Harry Potter and the Magic of Unity
by Phoenix Burst
Summary: Sequel to Harry Potter and the Spiritual Heirs. The Heirs have returned and they're prepared to end the war while fighting for the Gray. Full summary inside. Review! On hiatus!
1. Heirs Returned

**A/N- I'm back! I hope that my sequel lives up to everyone's expectations. Please enjoy! Review! –Phoenix**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter**

**Full Summary**

_It has been three months since the Spiritual Heirs defeated Voldemort's onslaught of Death Eaters. With the upcoming school year the Heirs reunite and with their training complete, they are ready to take control of the war. Old friends become worst enemies and old enemies become trusted allies. The evil Lords of Dark and Light are growing stronger and only the Spiritual Heirs of Hogwarts who fight for the Gray can use the Magic of Unity and bring the long awaited peace back to Britain._

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Over the land of Britain, storm clouds hung constantly, and with them the threat of a great war. It had been three months since the Battle of Blood as it had been named, and a lot had happened since then.

In one part of Britain, there were a vast number of hills. The wind blew consistently and the land ended with the cliffs that hung over the crashing ocean below. On one hill stood a rather large manor, but this manor was only visible and accessible to a privileged few. The manor was home to the four potentially most powerful wizards and witches in the world.

On a flat piece of ground about a half a mile away from the manor was a training ground. There were a series of logs, trees and rocks that served as a natural training set. In the center of the training ground was a large ring. Standing in the ring were two young men who each expertly wielded a sword. One man had a larger, more muscular build, while the other had a leaner build.

In a clash of metal, they met with their swords. While the larger man had the muscle, the leaner man had the skill and quickly got out of the lock. Both men exchanged blows for ten minutes, neither gaining the ground over the other. Their brows were bright with sweat and their breath came out in rapid gasps, but nonetheless there were grins on their faces.

The past three months had changed Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom drastically. After living through the Battle of Blood, they had thrown themselves into developing their skills in preparation of the war. Harry's once bright eyes were now somewhat dim from being separated from his love for so long. And Neville now sported a long scar that cut his right eyebrow in half and went down his cheek which was a souvenir from his final centaur test.

Harry parried Neville's powerful attack and sheathed his sword. "Tie?" he panted.

Neville nodded in agreement and sheathed his sword as well. "Tie," he said. He wiped his brow with his forearm and laughed heartily. "I wonder if we'll ever be able to last longer than ten minutes without hurting each other."

Harry laughed with him. "Ten minutes does seem to be our limit before our instincts kick in. You've certainly come a long way over the summer mate, and I don't doubt that you could beat me if we kept going."

While Neville, Luna, and even Hermione had dedicated their summers to their species training, Harry had taken on most of the drama that seemed to constantly follow them.

The Daily Prophet had been particularly excited to slander Harry for standing up to Scrimgeour. Because the Ministry didn't want to anger the boy-who-lived, they didn't slander him as much as they had done in the past, but that didn't stop them from quickly spreading the unsaid rumor that Harry didn't respect authority figures. Add that on top of the lawsuit that Ginny had attempted to file for the breaking of their betrothal contract. That hadn't gotten very far though because there was the unquestionable evidence that betrothal contracts only burned when the magic binding them was no longer valid. The Daily Prophet and Ginny's poor attempt at a lawsuit had actually been the highlights of their summer.

There had been no word from Hermione ever since she disappeared in the Forbidden Forest. While they had been able to take a little comfort from Winky who informed them that Hermione was alive and well, it did not completely quench their fears that they would never see their lovable bookworm ever again.

Halfway through the summer, Luna had gotten the worst news that she could have possibly received. It seemed that a group of Death Eaters had wanted to take vengeance on Harry Potter and went for Luna's father as he was the most accessible relative of Harry's friends. Luna was devastated to learn that her beloved father had been the victim of the cruciatus to the point when his heart gave out and he passed on. Between Neville's tender love and care and her renewed dedication to learning fairy magic, Luna had pulled through. There were still moments when the pain of being an orphan would be too much, but Neville was always there to support her.

"Those who are prophesized are the ones who suffer the most," Ragnok had told her. Which made sense because now all four Spiritual Heirs were orphans (Neville to a certain degree).

Because the Death Eaters were now very active, Dumbledore had taken it upon himself to lead the Light. Using his influence on the Wizengamot, he started to passive aggressively take control of the Ministry, saying that it was for "the greater good". It started out with coaxing the Wizengamot to vote a few laws to be passed that required certain people to join the Order of the Phoenix. The qualifications for this law were that a person had to be a graduate of Hogwarts and had to be from Gryffindor House. They had been completely stunned when the law passed and that forced Harry and Neville to take their seats on the Wizengamot in order to try to thwart Dumbledore's manipulating antics. Together, Lord Longbottom and Lord Potter-Black had managed to prevent three of Dumbledore's laws from passing, but tried as they may, they couldn't get the laws already in place repealed.

Harry took a deep drink from his water bottle while Neville stretched out his aching limbs. They both froze when they heard an alarmed screech over their heads. When they looked up they both felt their hearts skip a beat when they saw a brown griffin falling to the ground at an alarmingly quick rate.

Without pausing to think, Harry transformed into Ashes and quickly flew up to intercept the falling form. Taking care not to injure her, Harry grabbed her with his talons and effortlessly glided back down to the ground.

"Let me go," Robin protested. "I just lost my balance!"

"_Stop squirming_," Harry instructed her. "_We're_ _almost on the ground_."

Robin pouted, but stayed still until Harry placed her on the ground. When released, she shook out her feathers and glared at Harry with Goldengaze's eyes. "I didn't need your help!" she snapped. "I was just coming to get you!"

Harry shifted back and smiled warily at the daughter of his departed friend. Robin had grown a lot over the summer, in more ways than one. She now came up to Harry's waist in height and her wings had grown more powerful to the point where she could fly short distances, though she insisted on pushing herself past her limitations. They did not know how Goldengaze passed the Founder's Blessing to his daughter, and Robin didn't know that she had it. But, Robin was smart enough to know that everyone was protecting her from something, and if there was one thing that the young griffin hated, it was being protected.

"What were you coming to get us for?" Neville asked once he calmed his racing heart.

Robin turned to Neville, excitement in her golden eyes. "Luna is back!"

Neville instantly turned towards the direction of Potter Manor. "Let's go!" He shifted into Titan and crouched so Robin could climb on his back. When Robin was on his back and secure, Neville started bounding towards the Manor in large leaps.

Following Neville's lead, Harry shifted back into Ashes and flew overhead. They made it the half-mile back to Potter Manor in less than thirty seconds. When they were at the door, Harry and Neville shifted back and raced inside with Robin running right behind them.

Neville paused in the doorway. "Luna!" he called. He quickly sniffed the air (a benefit from his dire wolf animagus form) and started racing towards the sitting room with Harry and Robin right behind. He violently pulled open the door to the sitting room and raced inside. When Harry and Robin caught up they both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Luna, unharmed, being kissed passionately by her fiancée.

The quirky young woman was pale and shaking slightly with exhaustion but her face was set in a triumphant grin. Beside her, Winky was fussing over her, making sure that she ate and that she wasn't harmed. The house-elf sported a slight bump on her abdomen, showing the new life that was growing inside her.

"Mistress Luna needs to eat and regain her strength," Winky said firmly as she shoved a very full plate in Luna's hands.

Luna smiled gratefully at the pregnant elf. "Thank you, Winky. I'm quite famished. But please, you must be exhausted too. Please take it easy. I know that Dobby is fairly protective of you and your baby."

Winky beamed and put her hand on her baby bump. "Dobby is fairly protective of Winky and the baby. Winky is sure that Dobby will be a great father." She paused for a second before adding with a grin, "Although, Winky hopes that the baby will not be as…enthusiastic as his or her father."

Luna giggled and took a bite out of the first thing she grabbed. "Everyone will love your baby no matter what because that baby is the representation of the love that you and Dobby share."

Tears filled Winky's eyes and she gave a curtsy before leaving the sitting room to return to her kitchen. When Winky was gone, they turned their attention back to Luna.

"So?" Robin asked excitedly. "Did you do it?"

Luna's face was full of pride. "I sure did," she said happily. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a simple bottle-cap. "Queen Shimmer blessed it herself. Now, if I ever need her or the Colony, I can call for them. She said that I started the season change in record time," she said proudly.

Neville chuckled and began massaging Luna's stiff shoulders. "You've been gone for days, I never realized how long it took fairies to change seasons (**a/n- totally an idea from Tinkerbell**)," he commented.

Luna nodded. "Queen Shimmer pulled quite a few strings with the other colonies to get me to start the change from summer to autumn in the States."

"Did you have to do it for the whole country?" Robin asked with wide eyes.

"I took on certain states," Luna clarified with a yawn. "They said that I managed to do the work of a whole colony by myself."

Neville instantly bent over to pick her up in his arms. "You need to rest," he said firmly. "I'm so proud of you love. Now three of us are done with our training," he finished without thinking.

Silence filled the room and Neville looked at Harry guiltily. Harry's dull eyes were now full of pain. Not hearing from his love in three months had taken the biggest toll on Harry out of everything. But, there wasn't anything that any of them could do but wait and pray that Hermione returned to them soon.

The door opened and Dolan poked his head in. "Dinner is ready," he announced with a bow. He saw an exhausted Luna in Neville's arms and smiled. "Would Mistress Luna and Master Neville prefer to be served in their bedroom?"

"No, we'll eat with everyone," Luna said with a raised eyebrow at Neville.

Neville sighed dramatically. "Fine. But, you're still not lifting a finger with anything."

Luna giggled and laid her head on Neville's firm chest. "So you'll feed me then?"

"If that is your desire," Neville said lovingly.

Watching his engaged best friends sent a jolt of pain in Harry's chest as he once again thought of his fiancée. Unable to watch Neville's and Luna's public display of affection any longer, Harry left the sitting room and jogged to the familiars' room. He opened the door and walked up to the tree that served as Kex's den.

"Dinner, Kex," Harry announced.

In the darkness of the tree, Harry could see Kex's emerald eyes gleam and the pine marten agilely climbed out. Over the summer the familiars, minus Ivy, had spent their time doing research for anything that could be considered useful while Neville and Luna finished their species training and Harry got involved in politics.

Kex leapt at Harry and clung to his human's outstretched arm before taking his spot on Harry's shoulder. "_How was your day_?" Kex asked. "_Mine was boring. I hate the library_."

Harry chuckled and started walking back downstairs. "Don't let Ivy hear you say that," he joked weakly. "You don't have to do research. You could come with me."

Kex shook his head. "_I need to feel useful_," he said. "_If I go with you to deal with the political stuff then I'm just a dumb animal to everyone else. Even if I don't particularly enjoy it, I'm going to keep researching for anything that can tell us about the Founder's Blessing_. "

They went the rest of the way in silence. When they arrived downstairs, they were surprised to find Neville, still holding Luna, talking to Ragnok.

"Ragnok, what causes you to honor us with your presence?" Harry asked as he walked up to the goblin. Instantly his mind went to the worst, "Is Master Zux alright?" he demanded.

Ragnok raised his hand calmly. "Zux is fine, Harry," he assured him. "But, I am afraid that my visit is not for pleasure."

Harry sighed and gestured towards the dining room. "Will you join us for dinner then?" he invited graciously. "If we're going to learn bad news then we might as well do it while eating a good meal."

Ragnok chuckled and nodded. "I would love to join you, Harry."

They all headed towards the dining room and sat around the table. Neville gently helped Luna into a chair and sat down next to her with Sage awkwardly sitting on the chair next to him and Fay, still sporting scars from Fawkes's attack, sitting on the table. Willowsong sat on the floor without a chair and fussed over Robin who was in a chair. Dobby made Winky sit down and rest while he brought the food out and then sat next to his life-mate. Harry sat at the head of the table with Ragnok on his right as his honored guest.

"Everything looks great, Winky," Harry praised as he filled his plate. Kex climbed down Harry's arm and started picking off Harry's plate as he usually did.

Winky beamed at the praise and started eating under Dobby's watchful gaze.

Ragnok waited until they had eaten before he announced the news. "You are aware of the Wizengamot meeting that takes place tomorrow?" he asked Harry.

Harry nodded and took a sip from his goblet. "Dumbledore wants to present another law. Neville and I are both going to prevent it, although I don't know what it is."

"It isn't a law, it's a tax," Ragnok informed him. "Even though Voldemort himself hasn't done anything, his Death Eaters have done a lot of damage over the summer. Dumbledore wants to impose a tax in order to fund his Order."

Harry's eyes narrowed as he connected the dots. "He wants to tax the goblins?"

Ragnok nodded warily. "He calls it the Residence Tax," he said distastefully. "It taxes those who are not wizards who reside in wizard villages. It would force the goblins to pay a tax for every Gringotts that is open in Britain."

"He won't do that," Harry said fiercely. "I won't let him."

Ragnok smiled at Harry. "While I appreciate your loyalty to my people, Harry, I do not know if you will be able to prevent him. I am here on King Zesd's orders to request that you tell the Wizengamot that if the tax is imposed, then all Britain Gringotts branches will relocate outside of the country. This would cost the wizarding world thousands of galleons of interest and they would lose the security of our banks. But, Dumbledore doesn't care about that. He doesn't believe that the goblins will leave, I actually believe that he forgets that there's a whole world outside of Britain."

Harry chuckled dryly. "I'll do everything in my power to prevent this from happening," he promised.

"Thank you, Harry," Ragnok said sincerely. "There's another matter that I wished to tell you. I know that you have tried to release as many powerless Death Eaters as possible to prevent them from hurting anyone else, but I took it upon myself to test out another possible security measure. Zux captured a Death Eater and sent him to the Gringotts dungeons where we severed the Death Eater's marked arm. We have kept the Death Eater alive in order to keep the mark alive and my goblins are working on a sort of border protection. When we find a powerful enough magical source, we will be able to prevent anyone with Voldemort's mark from leaving Britain."

Luna's stormy eyes were wide. "That's brilliant," she gasped. "Is there a way to centralize the border even more?"

Ragnok thought about this for a moment before shaking his head. "Not unless we had a large magical conduit. We're using a power source in every Gringotts around the country which is how we're able to pull the border lockdown off. If we were to centralize the location, then we would need one power source that contains more energy than all of our Gringotts branches all in one spot."

Luna nodded in understanding. "I'll do some research to see if I can find anything that might work though," she said.

"It would be a great way to trap multiple Death Eaters and then take care of them," Ragnok said. "But for now I will be happy to be able to keep the Death Eaters in Britain."

They finished dinner and bid farewell to Ragnok. Dobby led an exhausted Winky to their shared dwellings and Neville carried a still weary Luna to their room with Sage and Fay right behind. Harry and Kex sat by themselves in the dining room for a while until they couldn't put it off any longer and went upstairs for bed.

Harry changed in silence into his pajamas and climbed into bed, feeling Hermione's absence more than ever. The nights were always the worst. Hermione's side of the bed was cold from lack of use in the past three months. Kex, trying to respect Hermione's side, slept on the headboard. Even though he and Ivy were not romantic because they were different species, she was his best friend and he missed her dearly. They both slept uneasily with a hole in their hearts that would not be filled.

The next morning Harry woke up, showered and got dressed in his Wizengamot robes that had the Potter crest on his chest with the Black crest right beneath it. He gave Kex a quick bath before putting Kex's vest, now sporting the Black and Potter crest signifying Kex as Harry's true familiar. Looking their best, they went downstairs for breakfast.

Neville was already in his Wizengamot robes and Sage had obviously been bathed just like Kex. The Wizengamot hadn't been exactly thrilled the first time that the familiars had attended a meeting, but they compromised saying that if the "animals" were clean then there would be no objections.

"How's Luna?" Harry asked as he sat down and began filling his plate.

"Still sleeping," Neville responded as he took a sip of coffee. "I didn't want to wake her so I left a note. Are you dreading this as much as I am?"

Harry sighed and took a bite of his eggs. "I always dread being anywhere near Dumbledore."

They shared a dry laugh with that. A dignified hoot sounded above their heads and they looked up to see a white owl gracefully gliding through the open window near the ceiling. The owl flew down to the table and held out a leg to present a rolled up piece of parchment to Harry.

"Good morning, Hedwig," Harry greeted cheerfully as he took the parchment. He grinned at the red collar that Hedwig proudly wore. "And how is Lord Potter-Black's personal messenger owl doing this morning?"

Hedwig hooted happily and nipped gently at Harry's fingers.

"How about we go flying together when I come back later today?" Harry asked. "I love to stretch my wings after being cooped up in a courtroom for hours."

Hedwig hooted in agreement, took a piece of bacon from Harry's plate, and flew back out the window.

Harry opened the letter and sighed irritably.

"What is it?" Neville asked.

"They moved the hearing up thirty minutes," Harry said as he quickly finished his breakfast. "Probably an attempt by Dumbledore to keep us out of the hearing. It would have worked too if Hedwig wasn't as good as she is. We have ten minutes."

Neville nodded and finished his food before standing up and walking with Harry towards the sitting room where the floo was. Sage hovered by the table, grabbing one last sausage in his jaws before trotting after his wizard.

Inside the sitting room, Dobby was cleaning. "Morning, Dobby," Harry greeted as he swiftly walked over to the fireplace. "The meeting got moved up. Don't expect us to be back in time for lunch." Dobby had just enough time to greet Harry before Harry and Kex vanished in the emerald flame with Neville and Sage right behind.

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><p>Harry stifled a yawn as Dumbledore droned on for hours about how the Light did not have the same resources that Voldemort had and that the Order of the Phoenix was the Light's best chance to survive the war.<p>

"_This is boring_," Kex commented from his spot on Harry's shoulder.

Harry nodded in agreement as it is considered inappropriate to interrupt the Supreme Mugwump. Beside him, Neville stifled his laughter and turned it into a cough. At his feet, Sage wasn't as subtle, but thankfully those who didn't understand the wolf could only hear what could be best described as a sneeze.

At his podium, Dumbledore continued to talk about the Residence Tax. "Each non-human entity that wishes to reside in a wizarding village in Britain would pay a fine of 1,000 galleons a month. This tax would go to fund the Order of the Phoenix which will surely be the best opposing force from Voldemort's Death Eaters." Around the courtroom, Harry noticed with fury that a lot of people were nodding in agreement.

Harry raised his wand, signifying that he wished to speak. While to others he looked calm and collected, on the inside he was fuming.

"Yes, Harry," Dumbledore said pleasantly.

"That's Lord Potter-Black to you," Harry said coolly as he stood up. "This tax is only going to hurt the wizarding population. The goblins have thirty Gringotts branches in Britain alone, and they are not going to pay 30,000 galleons a month to run their branch."

"And what makes you say that?" an elderly wizard, whose name Harry didn't remember, asked.

Harry unsheathed his sword which had been disillusioned. Everyone in the courtroom gasped in shock at the sudden appearance of a weapon, but Harry ignored them. "I am a friend of the goblins and my goblin warrior name is Lightscar," Harry said calmly. "I have been given the honor of representing the goblin nation to thwart this abomination. King Zesd of the goblins has requested that I tell you that if this tax does indeed pass, then they will close all Gringotts in Britain. This will cost every witch and wizard a great deal of money from interest and they will lose the security that Gringotts provides. There are enough Gringotts branches outside of Britain to support the goblin nation and they will not lose any sleep over leaving Britain."

Alarmed exclamations were heard in the courtroom. "They wouldn't dare!" one witch shouted.

"They would," Harry retorted with a shrug. "Believe it or not, the goblins do not depend on your business in Britain. If this tax passes, the goblins will be gone by tomorrow."

Silence filled the courtroom and Harry got grim satisfaction from the subtle glare that Dumbledore was sending in his direction.

"It must be done for the greater good," Dumbledore insisted. "This is just a bluff, the goblins would not leave Britain."

"Are you willing to bet?" Harry asked with a glare.

Always loyal, Neville raised his wand and didn't even bother waiting for Dumbledore's consent before he stood. "You all seem pretty quick to judge what's for the greater good," he began cheerfully. "So long as you're not the ones who have to give anything up. When you let Dumbledore pass the Gryffindor Draft none of you cared because you don't have anyone who is in Gryffindor, they're all in the three other houses."

Some members of the Wizengamot at least had the decency to look ashamed, but Neville wasn't done.

"If this tax passes, then you lot aren't any better than Voldemort," Neville said, suddenly cold. "You let your prejudice hurt others and you still feel good about yourselves while you drink your Odgen's Finest while others are suffering."

Dumbledore watched with narrowed eyes while murmurs of agreement went through the Wizengamot. "We need this money to win the war," he insisted.

"Then tax everyone at a fair rate," Harry said reasonably. "The tax that you're proposing for the goblins is way too high. If every wizarding family is taxed a small amount, then altogether you would have a decent amount of funds for the war."

"Wizarding families have enough to worry about without having to pay a tax," Dumbledore said patronizingly.

Kex began snapping profanities at Dumbledore, but to him they just sounded like a long series of squeals.

"Lord Potter-Black, please quiet that animal," Dumbledore said firmly.

Kex snapped his strong jaws in Dumbledore's direction, but calmed down after a look from Harry.

"That is my true familiar that you insult," Harry said dangerously.

Dumbledore instantly went back to grandfather mode. "I am sorry if you think that I insulted him my boy," he said cheerfully.

"Lord Potter-Black," Harry corrected coldly. "I suggest that you do not forget that again."

Ignoring Harry's subtle threat, Dumbledore said, "all those in favor of passing the Residence Tax?"

Harry held his breath as a large group of the Wizengamot held up their wands in favor.

"All opposed."

Harry and Neville instantly held up their own wands, and because Harry held two votes, his wand let out a few sparks signifying that it held two votes.

Dumbledore tallied the votes and frowned slightly before sighing heavily. "The Residence Tax has been voted down," he said sorrowfully.

Harry and Neville let out breaths of relief. The Wizengamot session ended quickly and they started walking to the Floo points.

"I am disappointed that you seem to be straying from the Light, Harry," a voice said behind them.

Harry groaned in frustration and turned around to find that Dumbledore had followed them. "Your opinion of the Light involves breeding prejudice against those different from yourself," he said calmly. "First it's the goblins, then it's the centaurs who have to pay you in some way to live in the Forbidden Forest, then it's the werewolves. I can't tell if **you **even believe that what you're doing is considered Light anymore." Harry grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. "And for the record," he said before he threw the powder into the fire. "You are to address me as Lord Potter-Black when we are in session. Potter Manor," he called as he threw the powder into the fire before Dumbledore had the chance to respond.

When his world stopped spinning, Harry stepped out of his sitting room fireplace and dusted off the ash while Kex shook out his pelt.

"_That took over three hours_," Kex groaned tiredly. "_Do you think Winky has lunch ready_?_ We're back sooner than we thought we would_."

Harry chuckled and stepped aside so Neville and Sage could step out of the fireplace. The two of them could barely fit in a fireplace together and as usual, they ended up tripping over each other on the way out.

"Having fun?" Harry asked cheekily.

On the floor, Neville gave Harry a good-natured glare before standing up and dusting himself off. "You try fitting with a wolf that needs to lose a few pounds in a tight fireplace."

"_Hey_," Sage objected. "_My body is perfect_."

Neville chuckled and helped Sage with getting some ash out of his pelt. "If you say so. Let's go to the dining room, thwarting Dumbledore always makes me hungry."

Laughing, they went down to the dining room. When they entered the room they saw Luna talking excitedly with someone whose back was to them. The visitor had light-brown hair that was in a single braid that went down to the middle of his or her back. The visitor seemed to be wearing a light-green tunic that went down to the knees that was made out of an unknown material and had stitching running down the sides. The visitor also wore tight brown pants and dark-brown leather boots that went halfway up to the knee.

"Luna," Neville said cautiously. "Who's this?"

Luna looked at the boys and smiled happily with unshed tears in her eyes. "An old friend."

Before Neville could ask any more, the visitor stood up and faced them. It was a young woman. Her body was slender, but she had nice tone muscles. Everything about her body said graceful. Her skin was tan and there were a few freckles scattered over her nose. Her ears, to Harry's surprise, were slightly pointed much like Dobby's or Winky's were and one of them had a silver ring pierced through. But, what stuck out the most to Harry were the chocolate brown eyes that looked at him with such love that he felt his heart fill with warmth for the first time in three months.

"Hermione?"

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><p><strong>AN- And so it begins! Review! -Phoenix**


	2. Tale of the Elves Part I

**A/N- This story might move at a quicker pace than my first story, I haven't decided yet. But, my goal is for it to be longer than the first one. Review! –Phoenix**

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><p>"Hermione?" Harry gasped as he stared at the young woman in front of him.<p>

The young woman's beautiful brown eyes let a couple tears escape as she nodded. "Hello, Harry. _**Cormamin lindua ele lle **_(my heart sings to see thee)," she whispered.

On his shoulder, Kex snapped out of the initial shock first and quickly climbed down Harry before bounding over to the table where he tackled a small form covered in fur. After a second of confusion, Harry realized that it was Ivy and she was greeting Kex with just as much affection as Kex was using with her.

Unable to bear being parted any longer, Harry sprinted forward and pulled Hermione into a hug and squeezed her tight, afraid to let her go.

"Hermione, my Hermione," he cried over and over. "You're really here."

Hermione returned the hug and cried into Harry's chest. "I've missed you, so much. I'm sorry that I couldn't get word to you over the summer."

Harry cupped Hermione's cheeks with his hands and desperately brought his lips down onto hers in a passionate kiss.

When they were forced to come up for air, Hermione found herself engulfed in a very tight hug from Neville who picked her up and twirled her around while Sage howled ecstatically.

"When did you get back?" he asked enthusiastically.

Hermione laughed and as soon as her feet were on the ground she pressed herself back against Harry, as if she couldn't bear to be apart from him. "I got back an hour ago," she said. "Luna has been filling me in on everything that has happened."

Harry kissed Hermione's hair and pulled her close. "Please don't ever leave me again," he pleaded. "I couldn't live through it again."

"It was hard for me too," Hermione sniffed as she looked away. "Why don't we sit down and I'll tell you about my summer and you can tell me about yours."

They all readily agreed and they went to the sitting room where they were joined by Dobby, Winky, Willowsong, and Robin. After Hermione took a few moments to give Robin a big hug and to share ecstatic congratulations for Dobby and Winky and their pregnancy, she sat down next to Harry and immediately took his hand in hers.

"Where to begin," Hermione sighed as leaned into Harry. Ivy leapt up on the couch and stretched out her legs.

"_How about the beginning_?" she asked amusedly. "_Start from when we went into the forest_."

Hermione nodded and, if possible, pressed herself into Harry even more. "I guess that the best place **is** the beginning. After Ivy and I crossed the border into the Forbidden Forest…"

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><p>Tears still running down her cheeks, Hermione ran over the border, not exactly knowing what to expect. One second she was running towards the dark and gloomy forest and suddenly she was running into a room that was encased in natural light.<p>

"What on earth?" Hermione gasped as she forced herself to stop before she ran into the wall.

She gaped as she looked around the room that she was in.

The best thing that she could think of was that she was standing in a sort of meeting room. There were piles of fur that were arranged in a circle with one pile looking more comfortable than the rest. There were assorted weapons on the walls and Hermione had to stop herself from stroking one of the bows, remembering the sad end of her own bow.

"This is the room of the Council," a soft voice said behind her.

Hermione spun around and found herself staring at the most beautiful woman that she had ever seen.

The woman wore a bright green dress with leather arm guards that went from her hands to her elbows. Her ears were pointed and her eyes were a clear blue while her pale skin was free of any blemishes. Around her neck was a simple braided cord that went through a wood ring.

Just looking at this beautiful woman, Hermione felt compelled to sink to the floor. She dropped on her knees and stared at the ground.

_Who is this woman?_ she thought shakily. _For someone of such beauty, I can also sense great power from her as well._

The woman chuckled, as if sensing Hermione's internal struggle. "Rise my dear," she said with her soft voice. "You have no need to kneel before me, my champion."

Hermione's head snapped up. "You're the one who saved me during the attack," she stated.

"You saved yourself," the woman responded. "I merely reminded you of what you already possessed."

Hermione pushed herself up. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled kindly. "I am Arya, Queen of the Elves. And you are now in my village. Come," and with that she turned and walked out of the room, forcing Hermione to get to her feet and stumble after her with Ivy right behind.

Queen Arya led Hermione out of the building which, to Hermione's surprise, was carved into the side of a mountain. The village itself was on the outskirts of a lush forest with a river that flowed on the side. Scattered throughout the village there were numerous huts that were about the same size as Hagrid's home back at Hogwarts. Hermione noticed that there were homes built in the trees as well and it wasn't until she got a closer look that she realized that the branches on the outside of the tree actually made stairs to lead to the top.

Throughout the village, there were numerous elves going about their day. Some elves carried fishing gear and went towards the river while others hovered in what Hermione could only guess was the market. Hermione noticed that only male elves wore tunics and pants while the female elves all wore dresses.

"Our village is small," Queen Arya said as she walked among the village, stopping to greet a fellow elf here and there. "Most of my people live among the trees. Only myself and my guard live in the mountain, which serves as a safe-hold should danger, arise."

"Queen Arya," Hermione began hesitantly. "Do only male elves train to fight? I don't see any female elves wearing clothes suitable for combat."

Arya chuckled in amusement. "Women are free to be warriors in my village," she said. "While more men than women enter our army, the option is still there. I trust that this insecurity comes from past experience?"

Hermione bowed her head. "I guess I'm just used to being told that I can't do something because of how I was born," she explained. "My parents were muggles so I'm considered a lower-class magical being because that and I'm a woman so I couldn't be considered a goblin warrior like my fiancé."

"It is a difficult path to walk, the path of a woman warrior," Arya said sympathetically. "Even if a woman chooses to fight, that fighting spirit usually dies with the birth of her first child."

"I never thought of it like that," Hermione admitted.

They walked through the village and Hermione noticed that Queen Arya seemed to know all of her subjects. In fact, they weren't even surprised to see a human walking amongst their numbers. A few of the women actually curtsied and a couple men bowed slightly. Hermione felt her cheeks warm up with her blush as she graciously returned the elves' greeting.

Queen Arya observed her subjects treating Hermione with respect with a small smile on her face. After the tour was over, Queen Arya led Hermione to the Queen's Quarters in the mountain. The room was modest, nothing like Hermione was expecting. There was a bed in the center, a closet, and a basin room that was tapped into the river so there was running water. But, what impressed Hermione the most were the array of weapons that hung off of the Queen's walls.

"I am not a helpless queen," Arya remarked in amusement when she caught Hermione ogling the weapons on the walls. "In this village, the right to be called Queen or King does not come from blood in our veins, it comes from the deeds that we have done for the village. In the depths of our mountain is our treasure, and it is that treasure that declares who is most worthy to lead the elves."

"Why were you chosen, if I may ask?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

Arya took in a breath and stared at the wall, as if she was staring at a memory. "It was to be my husband to be the next King," she said softly. "But, he was slain in combat by an enemy ruler. I was chosen in his place because I defeated my love's slayer and therefore ending the war. But, there is not a day when I do not wish that I were not queen, for that would mean that my beloved husband would still be here with me."

Hermione looked at the floor uncomfortably and Ivy anxiously clawed at the floor. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," Hermione whispered.

"It is not a secret how I came into power," Arya said somewhat bitterly. After another deep breath, her pleasant smile was back. "My people do not oppose a human being among us because they know that you are their champion. It will be my task to train you in true elf magic. You may be familiar with house elf magic, but that is merely a fragment of what you are capable of. You shall be my apprentice. I have arranged for you to live in an empty hut in the forest, for you will feel closer to nature that way. But, also I have arranged a bodyguard to be with you at all times."

"I can protect myself," Hermione objected gently.

Arya chuckled. "I know that my dear. But, these forests are not completely safe. You will be guarded by my most promising soldier. In human biological years, he is about your age. In reality he is considerably older."

Hermione bit her lip nervously. "He?"

"Yes. You two will live together. I shall teach you elf magic, but he shall teach you elf combat," Arya said in a tone that would not tolerate any objections. "He has my complete trust and will treat you with respect in your shared dwellings."

"I feel weird about the idea of sharing dwellings with someone other than my fiancé," Hermione said softly. "I don't want to be unfaithful."

Arya looked at Hermione with understanding. "You will need to get used to sleeping among men," she said sternly. "You are a woman warrior, and on the battlefield and in the camp, warriors are not pardoned for their gender. If you don't want to be unfaithful to your betrothed, then simply don't be unfaithful. Now, I shall equip you with your weapons."

Hermione looked up and her eyes brightened. "I used to shoot with a bow that was goblin made, but it was broken during the battle."

"For now, you will use one of my bows," Arya ruled. "Along with an elven blade. While goblins forged weapons are stronger and sturdier, elven weapons are more compatible with magic. At the end of your training you will make your own weapon of choice. But, that is not for some time."

They spent an hour fitting Hermione for the perfect loaner weapons. Arya had even more weapons than Hermione realized in her chambers. She wanted Hermione to use a weapon that the Queen had forged herself seeing as Hermione was to be the Queen's apprentice. In the end, Hermione was equipped with a short blade and a long bow along with an empty quiver.

When Hermione had her weapons, Arya took her to the tannery where Hermione was given her new outfit. She was given breeches, boots, and a tunic along with some undergarments and wrappings for her chest. She was also given a simple set of night clothes. When she left the tannery, she had three outfits for training, a simple yet elegant dress for formal occasions, and her night clothes.

Arya led Hermione past the outskirts of the forest and deeper. Not so far that Hermione couldn't see the mountain or the village, but far enough so that she was somewhat isolated.

"You will be doing a lifetime of training in a short amount of time, you will need the privacy," Arya explained.

They came to a stop at a rather tall, old oak. There were sturdy branches on the outside, leading up to the top where Hermione could make a medium-sized hut.

"That will be your home for the duration of your stay," Arya said. "Go and get settled, your bodyguard will be here shortly. He will explain your weapons and physical training schedule. But, you will report to me as the sun rises and the sun sets for your magic training. Meals will be private between you and your bodyguard unless told otherwise. I know that this seems overwhelming, but rest assured my dear, you will quickly grow accustomed. Before I go," Arya took off her necklace and placed it around Hermione's neck. "That necklace will get you entry to the mountain, and therefore me. Please take care of it though, that was my husband's bonding ring."

Hermione touched the wooden ring, eyes wide. "Are you sure?"

Arya nodded and turned to leave. "Welcome to Tel'Ranaemyn (The Lost Hills)."

* * *

><p>After the queen had left a stunned Hermione and Ivy alone in the forest for a while, Hermione sighed and clutched her package of clothes and items to her chest and looked at the branches.<p>

"Ready?" she asked Ivy.

Ivy looked at the tree anxiously. "_I can't climb those branches, my legs aren't long enough_."

Hermione grinned. "No worries."

She put her package down on the ground and shifted into Beauty. She then picked up her package of belongings with her teeth and waited for Ivy to climb onto her back and secure herself. Then, Hermione beat her wings and easily flew up the great height and landed on a balcony where she quickly put down her burdens and shifted back.

The hut was simple, but after living in Potter Manor for so long, Hermione didn't mind the change. There were two single beds, both on opposite sides of the hut. In the center of the hut was a piece of rope and hanging from it a curtain so that they could pull the curtain and get some privacy. There wasn't a basin room, but there was a pump that Hermione saw connected all the way to the bottom of the tree and to a small pond that wasn't too far off from her new dwellings.

Hermione quickly unpacked her few belongings and changed into one of her training outfits. It felt weird wearing the elven clothes, but they were comfortable and breathable. Hermione awkwardly tied the blade to her belt before admiring the beautiful bow that she had been given for training. The lack of arrows would be an issue; Hermione had never made her own arrows before.

While Hermione admired the bow, Ivy climbed on the bed and exclaimed at the animal pelts that lined the bed.

"_I don't know if I feel comfortable sleeping on this_," Ivy said worriedly. "_It's like sleeping on a cousin's corpse."_

Hermione smiled sympathetically. "Try not to think about that," she suggested. "What are your impressions of Queen Arya?"

Ivy shrugged and yawned. "_I'll feel better when we get a routine going. How do you feel about living with a guy who isn't Harry_?"

"Not great," Hermione admitted. "But, I love Harry and I won't be unfaithful to him."

Hermione felt Harry's absence like a thorn in her heart. She hated the terms that they had departed with. Even though she knew that Harry wouldn't cheat on her, seeing him kiss Ginny had brought back the insecurities that she thought had long left her.

The Heir of Salazar Slytherin wasn't what some people thought of as beautiful. With her untamable hair, bookish tendencies and bossy personality, she didn't expect anyone to bother looking her way. But, when she was with Harry, he looked at her as if she were the only girl in the room. She loved him, and he loved her. But, nothing was ever simple in their lives.

It was only when Ivy barked a warning that Hermione was snapped out of her thoughts. Immediately she gripped her new blade, though she didn't know how to wield it, and crouched in a defensive posture as whoever was outside continued to climb the tree.

Her visitor climbed into her new home and Hermione found herself gaping at her protector/teacher/roommate.

He was tall and muscular, which was only accented by the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt. He had light-brown hair that was pulled into a ponytail. The pointed ears that Hermione had come to associate with every elf, had a bronze earring in one. His eyes were blue-green and had slits. On his back he carried a rucksack, bow, and a full quiver, and tied to his belt was a sheathed sword. Everything from the multiple scars to the sweat that made his chest shine screamed that he was a warrior.

When he saw Hermione in a defensive posture with a sword in hand, he chuckled.

"Your stance is awful," he laughed as he went to his side of the room and tossed his rucksack on his bed. He put his bow and quiver on the wall with much more respect before he went back over to inspect his new pupil.

He walked around her a few times, assessing the state that she was in, but Hermione couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. The only man who had ever really checked her out this much was her fiancée.

"You tried to use a goblin stance with an elven blade," he pointed out. "I was informed that you studied with a goblin briefly. If you hope to become an elven warrior, you will have to make your body forget the goblin teachings."

Hermione nodded in understanding and awkwardly sheathed her sword. "I never got much training with swords," she admitted. "I'm much more proficient with a bow."

"You will learn both," her roommate said coolly. "Just because you're the 'elves' champion' doesn't mean that you will take the lazy way out."

"Excuse me?" Hermione said indignantly with her hands on her hips. "I never take the easy way out of anything! Who do you think you are?"

The elf looked a little surprised at her defensive outburst. He wasn't used to a woman talking back at him. While women were more than welcome to become warriors in the village, they were still respectful of the men. A woman having an outburst at a man was almost unheard of, and it was not something that he had ever experienced personally.

"I am your mentor," he said dryly. "And I command respect."

"Respect is earned," Hermione shot back.

They glared at each other for a few tense moments while Ivy glanced anxiously between them.

"_Maybe you should start again_," Ivy suggested gently. "_Introductions are a good place_."

Hermione glared at Ivy for a second before she sighed heavily. "I'm Hermione Granger," she said. "I've come to learn from you and Queen Arya in the ways of the elves." She bowed slightly, but she didn't break eye-contact.

The elf looked at her with curious eyes before he nodded his head. "I am Liam," he said. "I am a warrior of Queen Arya's and I have been given the duty of protecting you and teaching you. You will be put through vigorous training and you will not get it easy just because you are a woman."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Hermione said with a grin.

Liam nodded curtly and went to unpack his belongings. "Hopefully you won't change your mind about being our champion," he remarked. "You start at dawn."

* * *

><p>Hermione had to stop herself from throwing up for the third time as she collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.<p>

She had been training for a week, and it was the worst week that she had had ever since her parents were murdered.

Training started at dawn every day. Liam escorted Hermione to Queen Arya's dwellings for magic training. The Queen was very strict with training and had high expectations. Training started as soon as the sun started to rise. Morning was focused on meditation and feeling the magic of the earth. Night was dedicated to tapping into that magic.

No matter where Hermione went, Liam was right there with her. When she was with Arya, he was training not even twenty feet away. When she was resting, he would be in the house, keeping an eye on her. Liam took his job as protector very seriously.

When Hermione wasn't training with Arya, she was training with Liam. He would lead her to the nearby field and would instruct her through physical fitness first then basic swordsmanship. She was still holding onto the way that Harry had taught her to wield a blade and Liam wasn't impressed. Because her ability with a bow was already so great, he didn't do much work with it other than when he had her use it during their spars. He even taught her how to make her own arrows and promised her that she would be able to make her arrows stronger as her training with the Queen progressed.

Hermione pushed herself to her knees and feebly grabbed her blade. She forced herself to stand and inhaled deeply to clear the dizziness from her head.

"That was rather poor," Liam remarked from his position ten feet away. He had his sword out and looked almost bored.

"I'm trying," Hermione panted. She held her blade in front of her and glared at Liam. "Try me," she challenged.

Faster than she could follow, Liam was right in front of her and disarmed her, leaving her with a cut on her wrist and her blade on the ground out of reach.

"You will not be ready," Liam sighed. "The elven way of fighting relies on speed and instincts as well as skill. I fear that as a mere human, you lack these abilities. A human will never be able to fully master elf swordsmanship."

Hermione glared at him. "I **have** to master it," she said passionately. "The world won't fall into balance if I don't!"

Liam sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair. "I am aware of your predicament," he said. "But that doesn't make it easy."

Before Hermione could respond, Liam was pushing her behind himself as he resumed a defensive stance.

"What is it?" Hermione asked worriedly.

Without turning his head, Liam replied, "We've got company. Stay behind me and do not intervene."

Hermione glared at the unsaid assumption that she couldn't protect herself. But, the way that Liam's body was tensed made her keep her mouth shut.

The woods that bordered the field that they trained in were quiet. They were too quiet, Hermione realized.

Suddenly, a loud bellow erupted from the woods and a couple of trees were broken in half. On the far side of the field, Hermione could see a pair of angry red eyes that were over ten feet high. Slowly, the beast stepped into the open and Hermione felt her heart drop to her stomach.

"A minotaur," she gasped in disbelief. "You have a freaking minotaur in your woods."

The minotaur was over ten feet high. He had the head of a bull and the body of a man, and he looked downright mad.

He charged across the field at ferocious speeds towards them. Liam held his sword in a strong grip and charged forward to meet him. When the minotaur was only a few feet away, Liam dropped and did a dodge roll, slashing the minotaur's legs with his sword as he went. The minotaur roared in rage and made a move to kick Liam with his hooves. Hermione winced as she saw the hooves graze Liam's ribs, knowing that Liam would be sporting a few good bruises at best.

"Liam!" Hermione called out worriedly.

All of her exhaustion forgotten, Hermione raced forward to help her mentor. Liam gaped at her in amazement, though Hermione didn't know if it was her bravery or stupidity that shocked him.

Hermione drew her preferred weapon, her bow, off of her back and quickly put an arrow to it. She aimed the arrow before letting it fly. The arrow flew right into the minotaur's shoulder.

A loud bellow erupted from the minotaur's lips and he quickly tossed Liam aside before charging towards Hermione.

"Hermione!" Liam shouted.

Ignoring whatever pain he must've been in, he gripped his sword and leapt at the minotaur. He climbed the minotaur's back and quickly stabbed the minotaur in the back. The minotaur screamed in pain and threw the elf warrior off. When the minotaur was distracted, Hermione loosed another arrow. This one embedded itself in the minotaur's abdomen, but the minotaur didn't even seem to notice it.

"What the hell," Hermione panted. "Can nothing kill that thing?"

"Get out of here," Liam ordered from his spot on the minotaur's back. "I will take care of him."

Before Hermione could retort, the minotaur reached back and grabbed Liam. With all of his strength, he threw Liam to the ground and kicked him right in the stomach. Liam grunted in pain and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Seeing the minotaur attack Liam over and over made Hermione clench her fists around her bow in fury.

_I wish I had my wand_, she thought desperately. _All that I can think to do now is to use elf magic_.

Using house-elf magic, she conjured a small ball of light in the palm of her hand and threw it at the minotaur. The minotaur bellowed in shock more than anything else and flew back ten feet. Hermione kept throwing these light balls at the minotaur, pushing him further and further back. But, with the adrenaline wearing off from the initial attack, Hermione found herself once again becoming absolutely exhausted and had to drop to her knees and try to force herself not to pass out.

Taking advantage of Hermione's exhaustion, the minotaur roared and started charging towards her. Unable to move, Hermione could only gasp in horror as the minotaur grabbed her around her waist and lifted her off of the ground. The minotaur squeezed and Hermione screamed in pain as her ribs started breaking.

"Hermione," Liam coughed. With a grunt of pain, he forced himself to get to his feet and sprinted towards them. He stabbed the minotaur in the knee with his sword and ducked when the minotaur took a swipe at him. "Hermione," Liam shouted. "Shoot your bow! Fill it with magic and fire!"

Hermione was all too willing as it was getting too difficult to breathe. She quickly put an arrow to the bow and filled it with magic. She was so panicked that she didn't even realize how she was doing it until the arrow was let go and embedded itself in the minotaur's eye. With an ungraceful thump, Hermione fell to the ground and was pulled aside by Liam as the minotaur's body fell to the ground, dead.

"Are you alright?" Liam demanded as he anxiously laid her on the ground and felt her ribs. "Can you breathe fully?"

"It hurts a little," she admitted. "But what about you? You were kicked by that thing."

Liam gave her a small smile, something that he hadn't done before. "I've been through worse. I'm more concerned for your wellbeing. Can you make it back home? I'll send for Queen Arya to come heal you."

Hermione gave a little 'tut' and forced herself to stand. She wobbled a little and Liam immediately steadied her. "We both need healing, and I'm the one to do it," she told him. "Let's go to the river."

The pair slowly made their way to the river. When they arrived, Hermione instructed Liam to remove his shirt while she removed hers. When Liam was bare-chested and Hermione with her chest wrapped, she led them to the edge of the slow-paced river before she waded in, gasping at the cold.

"Are you coming?" she asked through chattering teeth.

"How is this supposed to help?" Liam asked skeptically.

Hermione laughed and submerged her body so that only her head was above water. "Queen Arya instructed that I am to heal my injuries and yours if anything occurs unless either of us is dying. Since neither of us is dying, then I am the one to heal us."

Liam shrugged, winced, and then followed Hermione into the water. When he was right next to her he submerged his body and sighed in relief as the cold water helped his aching bones.

"So, have you learned how to heal?" he asked, interested. "I'm not gifted with magic, so I have never been able to heal."

Hermione nodded and carefully put her hands on Liam's abdomen. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Her palms glowed a pale green and surrounded Liam's body. After a few seconds, the green vanished and Hermione let out a breath of relief.

"You have quite a few breaks, but no internal bleeding, I can heal that," she said with a smile.

Unable to resist, Liam gave her a smile of his own. "Elf bodies are considerably stronger than human ones," he said smugly. "You didn't think that I'd let a couple minotaur kicks kill me, did you?"

"I should have known better," Hermione laughed. She took in another deep breath before she focused on healing their injuries.

It was a lot easier to heal in cold water at this point in her training. The cold water helped to focus her mind and worked almost as a conduit for her magic. It took ten minutes to heal Liam's body as best she could. The breaks were healed, but he would undoubtedly be sore for a couple days. When he was done, she worked on herself. She only had a broken rib and some internal bruising which she quickly fixed. By the time she was done, she was almost falling asleep in the river. Liam easily picked her up and carried her out of the water. He then secured Hermione's bow and quiver on her back before he helped her on his back.

He slowly carried her back towards their home, but he didn't mind. Even as Hermione fell asleep on his back within a couple minutes, there was still a small smile on the young elf's face.

"You surprised me, Hermione," he whispered. "Maybe training you won't be so bad after all."

* * *

><p><strong>AN- I found a site that has elven phrases which is what I'm using as a source. It's not like speaking elf is a course that you can take in college lol. And yes, I am making minotaurs into a species instead of just one being in my story. Review! –Phoenix**


	3. Tale of the Elves Part II

**A/N- I have no idea if my portrayal of elf-magic is accurate. I did research, but I couldn't find anything useful so I'm using ideas that I had read in books. And yes, I did read the Eragon books which is where I got the name, Arya, from. Review! -Phoenix**

* * *

><p>Harry shifted uneasily as Hermione talked about her friend, Liam, with great admiration. He had been less than thrilled about the fact that she had to live with the guy, and it didn't help that Hermione spent literally her whole summer with him right by her side.<p>

Sensing her fiancée's jealousy, Hermione turned her head and kissed Harry gently on the lips.

"Don't feel jealous of Liam," she said. "There's only you."

That made Harry feel better, but not much. "I don't see why you couldn't have a female roommate," he grumbled.

Hermione giggled. "Oh, but that wouldn't have been as interesting. Don't forget, Liam saved my butt quite a bit. He's my best friend from Tel'Ranaemyn. I spent more time with him than I did with Ivy. She spent her days with Queen Arya. I would leave her with her in the morning, and take her home at night."

Luna, who had been quiet so far, couldn't help but ask. "There was a minotaur in the woods where you lived? Isn't that a bit dangerous to just have you and Liam living there then?"

"Not just one minotaur," Hermione said. "There is a large number of them in the woods. They don't usually attack the elves, but occasionally they get…determined."

"How many of those things did you fight?" Neville asked, impressed.

Hermione bit her lip as she thought. "With Liam? Five. By myself? One."

"You took down a minotaur on your own?" Harry gasped. "You said that Liam couldn't even do that."

"That's further along in my story," Hermione responded. "After Queen Arya commanded that we take it easy a couple days, we went right back to training. While Liam was still tough, he wasn't as…rough around the edges. Combat had brought us close together, as **friends**," she said, directing the friends comment to Harry. "About a month into my training, Queen Arya started putting Liam and I on border patrols to stop any minotaurs from colonizing around our borders."

* * *

><p>Hermione took a hearty sip from her water bottle as she took a break with Liam and another elf standing guard. She nodded politely as another elf on their patrol, Ronan, tried to flirt with her. It wasn't an unusual occurrence ever since she and Liam had taken down a minotaur. Apparently most of the single elves wanted their champion as their bond-mate. And the fact that Hermione was taken didn't stop their attempts.<p>

"Queen Arya said that I am bound to be made Captain in the future," Ronan bragged. "I am quite the warrior."

"That's very exciting for you," Hermione said politely. Seeing Liam trying to hide a snigger from his position, Hermione stood up and stretched. "Excuse me."

She walked over to her friend and stood next to him. "I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself," she commented.

Liam grinned at her. "But of course," he said cheerfully. "You know I always find it amusing when one of the guys are trying to claim you. You're too polite to tell them to shove off and that encourages them to keep coming back."

Hermione laughed and gently nudged her friend. "Like you don't have anyone looking for your affections," she teased. "I've seen the way the women look at you when we're in the village."

Liam coughed uncomfortably. "Shouldn't you be resting? Your frail human body needs its rest."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Liam's overused joke. "Yes, yes," she said sarcastically. "Elves are amazing while humans are weak, so you've told me," she finished with a smile. "But, you have to admit that I'm coming along nicely."

"You are," Liam agreed with a smile. "I haven't forgotten how you took down two of those raiders a week ago."

"Tel'Ranaemyn is my home too," she responded. "I'll fight to protect it and everyone who lives here. Even those who won't stop flirting with me," she added with a mischievous smirk.

After a few more minutes of rest, Liam led the patrol over the rest of the border. The forest that they lived in, though Hermione still had no idea where it was, was home to an abundance of magical creatures. Those creatures that shared Tel'Ranaemyn's borders would on occasion try to raid their territory. Annual border patrols helped to discourage these raids.

Hermione was walking next to Liam, laughing about something when all the elves stopped short and gripped their swords. Following suit, Hermione took her bow off of her back and put an arrow to it.

"What is it?" she asked in a whisper, wishing not for the first time that she had the elves' sensitive hearing.

Liam unsheathed his sword and crouched protectively in front of Hermione. "There's a stirring," he whispered back. "Stay close."

Hermione nodded, knowing by now that there was no point in telling Liam that she could protect herself.

A loud screech sounded overhead and Hermione gasped as a manticore flew over their heads, narrowly missing their heads.

"You have manticores too?" she complained. "I'm never going to figure out where this forest is if every magical creature from all over the world lives in it!"

Liam laughed and pushed Hermione further behind him as the manticore came back for another attack. It swiped at one elf who ducked and jabbed at the paw with his sword.

The manticore roared fiercely and jabbed its tail at another elf. The elf parried the blow, barely, and fell to the ground.

Hermione aimed her bow at the manticore and filled her arrow with her elf-magic.

She had learned, after the minotaur attack, how to fill her arrow with magic in order to do more damage. The essence of elf magic was that everything was connected and alive. Everything from the ground under her boots, to the bow in her hand had a breath. The arrow that she aimed to fire was alive as well, and if coaxed properly would be all too willing to accept some magic to make itself stronger.

When the arrow couldn't take anymore magic, Hermione let it go. The arrow glowed a vibrant green and embedded itself in the manticore's wing. The manticore roared in pain and dove down to attack her.

"Bugger," Hermione gasped. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain of being mauled by a manticore, but it never came.

Cautiously, Hermione opened her eyes and gasped in horror at the sight in front of her.

Liam had intercepted the manticore's attack and now sported a long spine sticking out of his shoulder. He took the spine out of his shoulder and fell to the ground with a shudder.

"Liam!" she cried out.

While Hermione tended to Liam and tried to slow the poison that was now running through his veins, the rest of the patrol attacked the manticore mercilessly. But, Hermione paid them no heed. She had to save her protector.

With one hand on the ground and the other on Liam's wound, she called on the earth for the magic that she needed. She used her magic to pull the poison out of Liam's body and tossed the poison to the ground where the magic of the earth absorbed it and neutralized it.

"Stay still," Hermione ordered as Liam started to squirm. "I can't heal you if you're refusing to sit still!"

Liam groaned and tried to push himself up anyway. "I can't lie down on the job when there's a manticore attacking my patrol."

Hermione sighed and forced more magic into Liam's shoulder, healing it quicker than she normally would with a wound. Once the shoulder was closed, Hermione took in a shuddering breath to fight off the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm her.

Liam squeezed her hand in appreciation and got to his feet. "Stay low," he instructed. "And for once, please just listen to me."

Hermione pouted and nodded. "Fine, but don't think that I won't hesitate to step in if you need help."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Liam said with a smile.

Working together flawlessly, the patrol managed to defeat the manticore with no serious injuries. Liam showed Hermione how to harvest certain parts of the manticore, saying that the essence was gone and the body was their prize for their victory. They took the poisonous tail, the wings, and the claws. After they had everything they wanted, they respectfully buried the body and went to finish the patrol.

They went back to the mountain where they reported to Queen Arya herself. She was pleased that none of her elves were harmed, but was sorry for the loss of the manticore's life. Their burdens were taken from them and Hermione was left alone with Arya, Ivy, and Liam.

"You are quite the magnet for trouble, young one," Arya said in amusement. "Liam, how was she in a combat situation with a patrol?"

Liam bowed respectfully. "Your Grace, she was level-headed and crippled the manticore's flight with one of her arrows. She then saved my life by taking care of me when I was poisoned in the middle of the battlefield."

Arya nodded. "And her forging? How is that coming along?"

"Her fingers are not quite nimble enough to work the forge properly," Liam said slowly. "She understands the principals of it and has assisted in creating bolts and such, but has not been able to create any blades. But, she can sing to the blades that have already been created and I feel that she will be able to forge her own deadly blade one day."

Hermione smiled at Liam's praise. She could sing to the blades and they welcomed her magic. Singing was one of the ways that the elves used magic to strengthen something. An elf could sing to a blade in the forge or to a tree before using it to create a bow. Her problem was that while she had no problem singing to weapons and making them stronger, she couldn't create her own.

"I am sorry to disappoint you, My Lady," Hermione said with a bow. "I feel that I have let you down. I have been here for over a month and I feel as if I am not making enough progress."

Arya smiled kindly. "My dear, you have progressed more than you know. I did not expect you to be a perfect warrior in the short amount of time that we have. Considering we really only had a little over three months to train you to begin with, I am quite pleased with you. You need to return to your friends when the school year begins. For now, I want you to focus on your training and not to worry about the time restraint. You have my word, young one, that you will leave Tel'Ranaemyn fully capable of elf ways. And I am not one to break my word."

She exchanged a glance with Liam who looked less than pleased, but neither said anything. After bidding farewell and collecting Ivy, the group went back home, ready for a good night's sleep.

* * *

><p>Harry listened intently as Hermione continued her tale. His jealousy of Liam was still there, but he couldn't complain after the guy had saved his love from both a minotaur and a manticore attack.<p>

"Tel'Ranaemyn sounds like a rough place to live," Neville commented, his tongue stumbling slightly over the name.

Hermione nodded. "I still have no idea where it is," she admitted. "It felt like every magical creature in existence lived there. There was a small colony of giants beyond the mountains. They left us alone though."

"_How did you finish a lifetime's worth of training in under four months_?" Fay asked. "_You said that training takes years, not that I'm complaining to have you back sooner than that_."

"I'm getting to that," Hermione said. "That's also the answer to the question that you all have been dying to ask. What the hell happened to my eyes and ears," she said with a grin.

Harry kissed Hermione gently on the cheek. "You are beautiful no matter what you look like," he whispered.

Hermione laughed and took Harry's hand in her own. "I know," she whispered. "Training was pretty typical after the manticore attack. Train with Queen Arya in the morning and the evening, train with Liam during the day, and taking on border patrols were pretty much my life. The biggest thing that happened to me happened three weeks ago. I'll never forget what happened…"

* * *

><p>Hermione ducked the punch that Liam threw at her and tried to knock him off his feet with a sweep kick. Liam jumped back to avoid the kick before sending one of his own, catching Hermione in the ribs and throwing her a few feet back.<p>

"Almost, but not quite," Liam said happily. "We'll call it a day. The monthly bonfire is going to start in an hour and I would prefer to attend less sweaty."

"Fine," Hermione laughed as she took Liam's offered hand to stand up. "I could use a good dip. I miss hot, running water," she sighed. "There's nothing like a hot shower after a long day of training."

Liam shrugged and they started jogging back to their home. When they arrived, they grabbed their bathing items and their formal wear and ran right back down to the pond where they bathed. Always chivalrous, Liam stood with his back turned while Hermione took her cold bath. When she was clean and wearing her light-green dress, Liam took a bath. He was done within two minutes and they dropped their stuff off before walking towards the village.

"So, are you going to meet up with anyone at the bonfire tonight?" Hermione asked mischievously.

"You know that as your protector I can't leave your side," Liam replied. "I wish that you would stop trying to set me up," he finished dryly.

Hermione frowned; she hadn't meant to be a nuisance. In truth, she felt guilty for taking up all of Liam's time. He could be a commanding officer in the army or be courting someone, but he was stuck protecting and training her.

"Sorry," Liam mumbled, seeing the saddened expression on Hermione's face. "I'm just…not the family type. I couldn't take a bond-mate and have a family when there's no telling if I'll always come back. I'll always be on the frontal assault of any battle. It just wouldn't be fair to them…"

"I understand," Hermione whispered. "But, life is also too short to spend it alone."

Liam looked at her and Hermione could see a flash of pain in his eyes, but it was quickly gone.

They walked the rest of the way to the bonfire in silence. When they got there, Hermione immediately went to greet Arya and collect Ivy.

The monthly bonfires consisted of a village-wide feast to celebrate another successful month in Tel'Ranaemyn. Villagers sang songs and there was dancing. Hermione herself ended up dancing with at least five men while Liam held Ivy and kept a watchful eye on her.

After another song ended, Hermione walked over to Liam and tugged him over to a nearby log to sit, knowing that he wouldn't sit unless she was sitting.

"I don't know how many more dances I have in me," Hermione sighed as she stretched her weary legs.

Ivy rubbed against Hermione's side. "_You need to have some fun_," she said. "_You spend almost all of your time training_."

"I wonder how Harry is," Hermione whispered. She wished that it was Harry that she was dancing with. The hole in her heart was ever present, and not knowing if Harry was waiting for her hurt more than anything.

Their moment of rest was ruined when a collection of loud bellows surrounded the village square. Liam was immediately on his feet with Hermione not far behind. He withdrew his sword and handed Hermione his second one, knowing that she hadn't brought her own with her.

The trees that made up the village seemed to tremble in fear as the bellowing grew louder. It wasn't until a female elf screamed in terror that Hermione saw what was making the noise.

It was a herd of minotaur. They were tossing their heads and stamping their hooves as they charged the village and tried to take out anything that was in their path.

"I thought that minotaurs were solitary creatures," Hermione gasped as she picked Ivy up in her arms.

"Tell them that," Liam said gravely. With his free hand, he grabbed Hermione's arm and forcefully pulled her towards where Queen Arya had taken her seat.

Her personal guard was surrounding her and didn't object as Liam pushed Hermione through their protective ring.

"Liam," Hermione objected.

"Stay there," Liam ordered and then he was gone.

"Liam!" Hermione cried, more out of frustration than anything else.

A gentle hand on her shoulder stopped Hermione from pushing through the guard to join Liam in battle. Turning around, she saw Arya looking at her with kind eyes.

"Those who are protected are not helpless," she said simply. She took Ivy from Hermione's arms, fond of the fox even though she couldn't completely understand her, and gently pushed Hermione out of the ring. "If you die I will be very disappointed in you," she called.

Hermione chuckled and raced to help the closest elf taking down a minotaur. She did her best to assist the elves and not burden them. It didn't matter how many minotaurs she helped to take down because two more always seemed to take their place. For twenty minutes, Hermione fought desperately to protect Tel'Ranaemyn from this raid, but exhaustion was quickly setting in and soon she was too weary to dodge in time when a minotaur struck at her with his war-club.

Biting her lip in pain, Hermione fell to the ground as her shoulder continued to bleed from the gash that the minotaur had given her. Elves from Arya's personal guard ran to her aid, but before they could get close enough, the minotaur grabbed Hermione around the throat and hauled her into the air. The minotaur's hand was huge and could easily snap her neck and he was trying very hard to prevent that.

"I want Arya," the minotaur bellowed in rage. "Bring her forth or I will snap the human's neck!"

There were collective gasps throughout the village as everyone saw the predicament that the human who would be their champion was in. Hermione could see Liam pushing his way to the front, his chest heaving with rage as he saw the state his charge was in.

"Do not harm her," Arya's calm voice said from among the crowd. "I am here."

"My Lady," Hermione choked out as Arya stepped up to the minotaur without her guard. "Don't come closer."

Arya looked coolly at the minotaur who was slowly choking the life out of her pupil. "Why have you come, Ajax? And why have you chosen to gather your kind together to attack my people?"

The minotaur, Ajax, glared at Arya. "We have merely come to claim what is ours," he snorted. "Once we have killed every elf in this damn village, we will take it for our own and I will be king. And you, Arya, will die today."

"I do not fear death," Arya said simply. "But, you are killing my student and I cannot allow that. Let her go, and I shall let you kill me."

Ajax grinned hungrily and with a mighty heave, threw Hermione to the ground. Hermione gasped in pain as the wind was knocked out of her and weakly rolled over as Ajax grabbed Arya's throat and started tightening his grip.

"Queen Arya," Hermione gasped. She fumbled for her sword and forced herself to her feet.

_Harry is going to be pissed when he hears this_, Hermione thought warily.

Hermione held her sword in front of her and murmured, "**Ama poldora** (strength)," to strengthen her blade even more. While elves were powerful magical creatures, Hermione was stronger. And she was hardly going to let this ugly bull kill her master.

"**Gurth gothrim Tel'Quessir** (death to the foes of the elves)!" she shouted as she climbed on the minotaur's back as Liam had done so long ago.

With all her strength, she thrust the blade into the minotaur's neck. Because the minotaur's neck is very thick, the wound didn't kill him and only made Ajax even madder. He used his free hand to grab Hermione off of his back, but not before she murmured "**Pelekta yassen runya** (flame strike)," and summoned fire to her sword. Just as Ajex's hand closed around her waist, Hermione swung her sword and took off one of his horns before jabbing her sword through his skull.

Ajex's cry of rage was short as the life drained out of him and he dropped Arya to the ground. He started falling backwards and Hermione only had a second to realize that she was still on his back before he fell on her and her world went black.

* * *

><p>Hermione woke up to find that everything hurt. She wearily opened her eyes and immediately noticed that she was in the mountain. With a grunt, she tried forcing herself to sit up, but a firm hand on her shoulder prevented her from doing so.<p>

"You need to rest," Liam's tired voice told her. "You were gravely injured and almost didn't make it."

Hermione turned her head and frowned at the condition that Liam was in.

The elf looked like he hadn't slept in days. His skin was pale and there were bags under his eyes, something that did not look right with his normally perfect skin. His clothes were wrinkled and torn and his arm was in a sling.

"Liam," she coughed. "You look awful."

Liam chuckled bitterly before he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry," he whispered brokenly. "I swore to protect you and I let the leader of the raid to capture you and I couldn't stop his body form crushing yours. I am not worthy to be a warrior."

Hermione scowled and forced herself to sit up, ignoring Liam's protests. "I am alive because of you," she told him. "I never thought that I could fight completely without magic, but I did. I took down a freaking minotaur all by myself! And yes, being crushed by Ajex's body sucks, but I'm alive, and that's what matters."

Before Liam could respond, Hermione turned her attention back to her bed and her expression softened when she saw Ivy sleeping on the foot of the bed.

"She almost died with you," Liam said softly. "The two of you have been asleep for three days. Queen Arya herself has come to heal you every hour. Ajex's large body broke almost all of your ribs, one of which punctured your lung. You had massive internal bleeding and Queen Arya said that you had a bad head wound too. Why didn't you stay with the Queen?"

Hermione shook her head and immediately regretted it as her head began to swarm. After taking a few sips from the broth that Liam brought to her lips, Hermione answered.

"If I am to be your champion," she croaked. "Then I need to fight. People get hurt in war, people die, but that can't let it stop you."

"Brave words, young one," Arya's calm voice said from the doorway.

As the Queen walked in, Liam immediately rose to his feet to bow and Hermione awkwardly bowed in bed, wincing as she did so. Arya walked up to the bed and muttered a few words before she assessed Hermione's injuries.

"I have healed all the breaks and bleeding," she said. "But, I can't fully heal the bruising. You must undoubtedly be sore. Are you well enough to walk?"

Hermione nodded uncertainly and, with much assistance from Liam, got out of bed. She stifled a cry of pain as her body moved, but didn't complain. When her legs didn't seem to want to work, Liam scooped her up in his arms and carried her as Arya led them deeper into the mountain.

"My Lady," Hermione said uneasily as they went deeper into the mountain than Hermione had ever gone. "Where are we going?"

"You have proven something to every elf in Tel'Ranaemyn when you took down Ajax all on your own," Arya said as she continued to walk. "I have also realized that you are ready to take on the burden that I am about to impose on you."

The rest of the trip went in silence. Arya led them down a series of steps into the very heart of the mountain. The two elves were very quiet and serious, and it made Hermione nervous. When the stairs finally ended, they found themselves standing in front of a metal gate that was guarded by two elves. They bowed to Arya and moved aside so that they could make their way through.

When they entered the room, Hermione gasped in awe at what stood before them.

It was a large gem that was sitting on a pedestal. It was a bright blue color and Hermione could feel the power that it radiated.

"We call our treasure, Elear," Arya explained as she put her hand on the gem. "It means visionary. It is this gem that makes the decision who shall rule Tel'Ranaemyn. I have been waiting, for Elear to decide when you were ready, and after the minotaur raid it decided that you were ready for the burden. Hermione, what would you be willing to do to win this war and be with your loved ones?"

Hermione held onto Liam as he put her back on her feet. "Anything," she said firmly.

Arya nodded and beckoned her forward. With unsteady steps, Hermione walked forward until she was standing next to Arya next to Elear.

"Hermione, the only way that you can finish your training in time is to become one of us," Arya said gently. "If you are willing, I shall perform an adoption ritual through Elear and you will be granted the qualities of an elf. Because I am only the mother, you would remain half-human. You would most likely retain your human mortality and you would gain elf features. Then, through Elear, you will gain the knowledge that you will need to possess in order to finish your training in your remaining three weeks. It may seem like taking a shortcut, but in reality it is the only way. Are you willing?"

Hermione bit her lip to keep it from trembling. "So, if I go through with this, you'll be my mother?" she asked quietly.

"In blood," Arya confirmed. "I know that your own mother was taken from you, but that doesn't mean that I am trying to take her place. Even if it is my blood running through your veins, you are still your mother's child. And though I have come to love you like a daughter, I know that you already have a mother. All I want is to help you to survive this war."

Hermione thought about it for a moment longer before she nodded. "I'll do it."

Taking a blade from a reluctant Liam, Arya slit hers and Hermione's palms. They then put their bloody palms on Elear. The gem absorbed the blood and the room was suddenly encased in a vibrant blue light.

Hermione screamed in agony as the blood in her veins suddenly felt like fire. It made the pain that she had felt earlier seem like nothing. She felt the burning in every part of her body. Her eyes, her muscles, her skin, and her ears oddly. The pain was so intense, but Elear was refusing to let her black out. After a minute of pain that made the cruciatus look like a stinging hex, the pain stopped and Hermione fell backwards, unconscious.

When she came to, she was aware of Liam cradling her gently to his chest while one of the guards helped Arya to get to her feet.

"Hermione," Liam gasped in astonishment. "You're…"

Hermione squinted as she looked around her. Everything was sharper, more defined. Her hearing was also more sensitive. She could hear the other guard shifting anxiously outside of the chamber. With slightly trembling fingers, she touched her ears and found to her shock, that they were pointed.

"I'm an elf," she stated. She wiped her eyes to stop the bitter tears from falling. "Do I even look human anymore?" she asked Liam.

Liam smiled comfortingly. "Your eyes only have small slits and your ears are only slightly pointed. Your hair is still wavy, but neither your hair nor your eye color has changed. You're right in the middle. Did Elear pass on the knowledge to you?"

Hermione closed her eyes as she sorted through her brain. Years of knowledge of the elven ways swam in her head, giving her a slight headache. It was as if she had been training for years instead of a few short months.

_Elear couldn't grant me this gift sooner because I hadn't proven myself_, she thought. _Who knew that all I had to do was nearly get squashed to death by a minotaur to do it_.

"My child," Arya said softly as she was on her feet. "How do you feel?"

"I've been better," Hermione admitted. "Are you alright, My Lady?"

Arya smiled gently at Hermione. "You may now refer to me as, My Lady Mother. You are now my daughter, and you shall do great things."

* * *

><p>The group sat in silence as Hermione finished her tale. Harry gaped at her in amazement while Neville and Luna were wearing big grins.<p>

"So you completed your training? You're here to stay?" Luna asked excitedly.

Hermione nodded. "I dueled Liam, though he still kicked my butt," she said with an annoyed expression on her face. "But, I did well enough so that My Lady Mother made me a warrior. I even forged my own blade and made my own bow," she said proudly.

"I'm just so happy to have you back," Harry said as he pulled her even closer. He looked at the clock and gaped in shock when he saw that it was almost nine. Hermione stifled a yawn and Harry was immediately on his feet. "You look exhausted, Hermione," he said. "Let's go to bed."

Hermione nodded happily. She got up and went to give everyone else in the room a quick hug. "I'll answer your questions tomorrow," she promised. "But I just passed my training this morning and right now I can barely keep my eyes open."

They nodded in agreement and Harry led them back upstairs. Kex and Ivy went to their own room and Harry and Hermione went to theirs. Hermione changed into her human pajamas and climbed into bed, sighing in delight at the feel of cotton instead of animal pelts. Harry jumped on the bed next to her and cupped her cheek in his hand.

"I'm going to get something from the kitchen," Harry said once Hermione was changed. "I'm starved and judging by your stomach growling, you are too."

Hermione shook her head and pulled Harry closer. "Please," she said quietly, her voice suddenly pleading. "Just be with me."

Harry nodded, stunned at her sudden vulnerability. "I'm not going anywhere."

Tears started filling Hermione's eyes and she brought her lips down onto Harry's fiercely. Harry was more than happy to oblige. He returned the kiss with just as much passion and he soon found his hands caressing his fiancée's thighs. He stopped his hands just as they reached her waist and started pulling them back to himself when Hermione's hands stopped him.

"Please," she begged, tearfully. "Let's be together, body and heart. I can't be parted from you any longer."

With that, Hermione started undoing Harry's Wizengamot robes and tossed them aside. Harry looked at her in astonishment, but the desperate need in Hermione's eyes made his heart clench and he started taking off her tunic.

For that night, in their reunion, they were together in the most intimate way possible. And for that night, everything was perfect. They were together again, and that was all that they needed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Review! -Phoenix**


	4. A New Ally

**A/N- I've gotten a lot of comments that Hermione is going to be more powerful than Harry now and that he should be trained too. Don't forget that Harry finished his training a long time ago. If Hermione seems more powerful than Harry right now it's just because her strength is so new. I got the same comments that Harry was too strong when he finished his goblin training in my last fic. Review! –Phoenix**

* * *

><p>The reunited pair woke up the next morning, feeling happier than they had in months. Neither of them was wearing any clothes and was completely wrapped in their sheets. Hermione's head was on Harry's chest and Harry was running his hand through her hair which had come out of its braid. Everything was perfect.<p>

"I love you, Harry," Hermione whispered softly.

"I love you too, Mione," Harry whispered back. "Are you sorry that we didn't wait until we got married?"

To Harry's confusion, Hermione flinched slightly, but when she looked up at him her face showed nothing but smiles. "I don't regret last night. I have never felt so complete."

Harry's smile got even bigger (if that was possible) and he kissed Hermione full on the lips. "How do you feel?"

Hermione shrugged and stretched. "A little sore, but I don't know if that's from my test yesterday or last night. Either way, I'm a pretty content hybrid."

Harry frowned slightly. "You aren't a hybrid," he objected.

"Yes I am," Hermione chuckled. "I'm half-elf now. Physically, I'm more of an elf than human, but I still have my human mortality and my magical core hasn't really changed. I'm more in-tune with elf-magic, but other than that my magic has stayed the same."

"If you're up for it, would you like to spar?" Harry asked with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Goblin style versus elf style?"

Hermione grinned at the challenge. "**Cuamin linduva yassen megrille** (my bow shall sing with your sword)," she said.

Harry groaned playfully. "Should I expect you to randomly speak in elf from now on? Because if you are, I'm going to need a dictionary."

The two laughed and got out of bed to quickly shower. When they were dressed, Harry in his workout clothes and Hermione in her training clothes that she wore during her time with the elves, they went downstairs for breakfast. They hadn't eaten the night before and they were starving.

When they entered the dining room, Hermione was immediately greeted by a swarm of house-elves. She greeted them in elf-tongue, something that the house-elves weren't entirely fluent in. She asked each of them how they were doing and answered some basic questions about her time with true elves. The house-elves were so excited to talk to their champion that they weren't as formal as they would usually be.

After every elf had been given a hug, Hermione and Harry ate breakfast by themselves, side by side. Before the others joined them, they grabbed their weapons and went down to the training ring.

"So, what are the rules that you spar by?" Hermione asked as she secured her hair in a braid.

Harry unsheathed his sword and grinned. "Well, Neville and I go as long as we can without hurting each other."

Hermione rolled her eyes playfully. "That attitude would not bode well with the elves. With them, you duel until you can't anymore. I can't tell you how many times I had a broken leg before I stopped dueling."

"Sounds brutal," Harry said. "You got hurt that much? Wouldn't your body develop a resistance to healing magic after a while?"

"Not with elf healing," Hermione responded. "Elf magic comes from the essence of nature. The strongest elf magic is done in a place that isn't polluted by humans. Even here, I can feel the magic singing to me," she said happily. She fiddled with the earring in her ear and smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised if my connection to the elves dwindles in London though," she laughed.

"Why do you only have one earring?" Harry asked out of curiosity. "You never seemed like the earring type."

Hermione shrugged. "The earring is my mark as a warrior. My Lady Mother did it herself. It's also spelled so that I can speak to My Lady Mother through Elear and summon the elves' aid if needed. They all swore to fight with us when the time comes."

"The Death Eaters won't know what hit them," Harry said with a smile. "Alright, how about the first to disarm the other wins? No magic, just skill."

"Sounds good."

Faster than Harry's eyes could follow, Hermione had her blade unsheathed and was coming at him. Their swords met and Harry was shocked to find that Hermione wasn't buckling under his strength like she would have in the past. The lock lasted for only a second when Hermione pushed Harry back and did a sweep kick to knock him off his feet.

With a grunt, Harry landed on his back, a little winded. He rolled out of the way before Hermione could press her sword to his throat. Using his legs, he kicked out, catching Hermione in the stomach and quickly got to his feet.

They continued to duel, each going on the offensive and the defensive. Harry was grinning out of excitement the whole time. Dueling with Neville was great, but Hermione dueled with so much grace and ferocity that honestly, he was a little turned on.

After ten minutes of fighting, neither one of them showed any evidence of slowing down. Both of them sported a few cuts, but neither of them really noticed. It wasn't until Harry got a cut on his leg and stumbled that Hermione disarmed him and pointed her own blade at his throat.

"Gotcha," Hermione said cheerfully. "Who knew that the mighty Harry Potter would crumble after a little cut to his leg," she teased.

Harry gave her a look of mock indignation. "You cut down to the muscle," he objected. "Is that what qualifies as a 'little cut' these days?"

Hermione laughed and sheathed her sword before she knelt down next to him. She then murmured, "**Tanka harwar** (heal)," and put her glowing hand on Harry's leg.

Harry watched in amazement and relief as the muscle in his leg was healed. It took Hermione less than a minute and by the time she was done, Harry was only sporting what looked like a nasty cut.

"Elf magic is intense," Harry commented. "You will be an amazing healer, Love," he said fondly.

Hermione smiled sadly and helped Harry to his feet. "School starts soon, how about a trip to Diagon Alley?"

"Sure," Harry said rather reluctantly. "We haven't been going in public that much lately…we didn't want to deal with the drama of the Battle of Blood."

"You can't hide at Potter Manor forever," Hermione said gently. "By the way, are there any Death Eaters at Black Manor that I need to take care of?"

Harry nodded. "We couldn't drain any of them without you, so we just left them there. Malfoy is there too," he said dryly.

"Great," Hermione muttered. "How about this then, why don't we go to Black Manor and take care of a few of those Death Eaters? Then we can go shopping. I need some new clothes now that my body has changed and there's the fact that I don't have any school supplies."

They started walking back towards Potter Manor. "Let's talk with the rest of the gang first," Harry suggested as he took Hermione's hand in his own. "You're awfully eager to get right to work."

"We're in a war," Hermione stated simply. "I also have an idea on how to maybe save Malfoy from being a Death Eater, if it isn't too late."

Shifting into Ashes and Beauty, the pair flew back towards Potter Manor, taking time to enjoy each other's company. After a flight that should have taken less than a minute, but actually took fifteen, the pair landed and shifted back. Hand in hand, they walked into Potter Manor and went to the dining room where they were sure they would find the rest of their friends.

"Blimey, what happened to you two?" Neville asked when they walked in. "You both look like you've been running through thorn bushes."

They looked at each other's appearance and laughed when they saw that they were both sweaty and had small cuts all over their bodies.

"We dueled," Harry said as he sat down next to Hermione and took a glass of juice. "Hermione kicked my arse. She actually cut my leg down almost to the bone and then healed it within minutes."

"That seems a bit excessive," Luna said with a frown.

"I duel with all my might," Hermione answered. "And now that I'm back, so can you. You won't have to worry about hurting each other too badly because I can heal you right up."

"I still don't like it," Luna murmured to Neville.

Harry took a sip from his glass and cleared his throat. "Hermione thinks that she can save Malfoy from being a Death Eater if it isn't too late. She would like to take care of a few Death Eaters then go to Diagon Alley to do some shopping for school supplies and clothes."

Neville groaned half-heartedly. "I hate being in public these days. By the way, Hermione, are you going to cast a glamour charm on yourself whenever we aren't home from now on?"

Hermione's hand immediately went to her ear with the earring. "Couldn't even if I wanted to," she answered plainly. "Elves aren't affected by wizard magic as much as other humans. It's like how it takes more than one stunner to subdue Hagrid. My appearance won't accept the glamour charm. I'm just going to have to get used to being stared at in the wizarding world. In the muggle world I'll have to wear a hat and contacts."

The group ate their breakfast quickly and Harry and Hermione changed before they portkeyed to Black Manor. After Hermione pleasantly greeted most of the Black elves, they went down to the dungeon.

The Death Eaters who had been captured all those months ago couldn't really complain about being ill-treated. They were fed well, and they were given the opportunity to stay clean. The worst thing about prison was that they couldn't use their magic.

Hermione made quick work of five Death Eaters, scanning their minds for anything useful. Becoming half-elf apparently didn't affect her mind magics at all. She found out that Voldemort was currently stationed at Malfoy Manor, that Slytherins who were just about to enter their seventh year were receiving the Dark Mark if they supported him (surprisingly there were a couple who didn't), and she found out that despite Dumbledore being alive, there were plans to take over the Ministry.

It took less than three hours for Hermione to scan the five Death Eaters and for the four Heirs to strip them of their magic. The now powerless Death Eaters were scattered all over Britain with no idea of what happened to them and no way to hurt anyone ever again.

Saving the best for last, they had Malfoy taken to the interrogation room. He was even paler than he was when Hermione had saved him and he was too scared to insult them as he would have usually done.

"Are you going to kill me?" he asked in a pitiful voice.

"I don't know," Harry said with a shrug. He turned to Hermione. "All yours, Love."

Malfoy struggled against his chains as Hermione stepped forward. "Please don't kill me," he begged.

Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled up Malfoy's left sleeve. She let out a breath when she saw that he hadn't been marked yet.

"We're not going to kill," she assured him. "But, we are going to find out if you are really as big a prick as you appear, or if you are tainted."

"Tainted?" Luna echoed. "How could he be tainted?"

Hermione turned to face her friends. "Malfoy has grown up in a home that has been polluted by dark magic for his whole life. His father is…was a Death Eater and I wouldn't be surprised if he kept some pretty dark items in his home…like the diary. Babies are highly susceptible to being corrupted by dark magic if they had regular exposure their whole lives. If Malfoy was corrupted, I might be able to cleanse him."

"But what about those who were good but grew up in dark homes, like Sirius?" Harry asked.

"I don't think his family regularly practiced dark magic," Hermione said. "And if they did, it wasn't to the same degree as what Malfoy was exposed to. Having a horcrux in the house with an infant is dangerous."

Malfoy listened to them talk about him and he felt his heart beat faster and faster. Corrupted? By dark magic? It seemed impossible.

Hermione looked at Malfoy with an indifferent expression on her face. "I don't care for you," she told him bluntly. "But, I can't do nothing while someone might be corrupted. If you had already taken the Dark Mark, then I wouldn't have been able to help you. But, seeing as we most likely took you before you had the chance, I can help you."

She took out a small dagger from her boot and used it to give Malfoy a shallow cut right above his heart. Malfoy whimpered and Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation. She wiped the blood off of her blade and slit her palm. She then put her palm on the cut on Malfoy's chest.

"**Kshonnarim, wanya** (mass dispel)," she said firmly. Her palm glowed gold and started to draw out the dark magic.

Malfoy whimpered as a dark mist came out of the shallow wound on his chest and dispelled. It took a minute for the dark magic to completely exit Malfoy's body and once it did the Slytherin boy slumped in his seat.

The effect was immediate. Malfoy's pale complexion seemed to get a little darker as did his hair. The group stared in astonishment as Malfoy took in a shuddering breath and opened his eyes. The gray eyes which the Malfoy Heir used to have were now blue.

"What…happened?" Malfoy rasped. "I feel…different."

Hermione nodded and healed both Malfoy's and hers cuts. "You were consumed by dark magic," she told him. "That can pollute your thoughts and hamper your magical core. How do you feel different?"

Malfoy shook his head weakly. "I-I feel like…like I was just let out of something cramped. L-l-like my magic can finally stretch…"

"I figured that's what would happen," Hermione said. "Malfoy, I'm going to cast a spell and see what your spirit is actually like. If your spirit was corrupted by the dark magic, then we can try and help you. But, if not and you really are that big of a prick, then we're going to have to strip you of your magic just like the others." She looked to her friends and after they gave her nods of agreement she put her hand on Malfoy's head and said, "**Elea i'dolen** (reveal)." Her hand glowed a gray light and Hermione held it steady.

The spell, like all elf-magic, called on the natural essence of the world. This spell would reveal the nature of the person. Hermione's hand continued to glow gray and when it didn't change after a few moments, she took her palm away, smiling slightly.

"He isn't good or evil," she told her friends. "He's gray. He'll fight for what's right, but he won't follow any of this 'greater good' crap."

Harry glared at Malfoy, not so quick to trust him. "Love, he could easily sway," he said.

Malfoy looked at Harry and took in a few shallow breaths. "What the bloody hell are you talking about?" he asked hoarsely. "Are you lot going to kill me?"

"We don't kill if we can avoid it," Neville answered. "None of us were particularly happy about the lives that we took when we took you prisoner. Your dad was one of them."

It was risky, but Neville wasn't one to beat around the bush. He wanted to see straight out what Malfoy's reaction to his father's death would be.

Malfoy's eyes widened in shock and they froze like that for a minute before he let out a sigh and hung his head low. "He…he didn't hurt anyone did he?" he asked softly.

That shocked them. Malfoy had always seemed so quick to laugh at other's pain or displeasure. But, was that the dark magic talking, or Malfoy?

"Nothing serious," Luna answered calmly. "You don't seem too brokenhearted about it," she observed.

Malfoy looked up and they were all surprised to see that there were tears in his eyes. "He was my father, of course I'm sad," he sniffed. "But, I've seen what he can do, what he's done. Did you know that in order to receive the Dark Mark, you have to commit a murder in front of the Dark Lord?"

The four Heirs nodded, they had learned this a while ago and they were planning on using it to exploit those Death Eaters who were still hiding.

"My father told me the story," Malfoy continued. "He took a little muggle girl. He tortured her in front of the Dark Lord. Tortured her just enough so that her little heart wouldn't give out. And when she couldn't scream anymore, he killed her. He told me this story when I was five…the same age as that little girl…and he was proud of it." More tears were running down Malfoy's face. "He was proud of what he had done. Yes, I'm sorry that my father is dead, but I'm not sorry that that monster is dead."

He looked at each of them, with defiant eyes, daring them to call him insincere. Harry and Neville still looked doubtful while Hermione and Luna looked thoughtful.

"We're going to talk about it," Harry told Malfoy, doing his best to hide the hostility from his voice.

They left the room and Harry immediately began pacing. Out of all of them, he was the most unwilling to trust Malfoy.

"I don't trust him," he said as he continued to pace. "The whole 'corrupted' thing is too convenient for my tastes. I don't trust him."

"Do you trust me?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"Of course," he said instantly. "But, what if you're wrong?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Hello? Brightest witch of my age."

Luna giggled at Hermione's joke, but the boys were still skeptical. "I have an idea to see if Malfoy is being honest with us. If he's being honest, then I think we should give him a chance." At her friends' agreeing nods, she walked over to Harry. "May I use your griffin wand?" she asked.

"Sure," Harry said in confusion as he handed her his wand.

Luna took the wand with a smile. "Your core is a griffin feather," she said happily. "You can't lie in a griffin's presence."

Hermione's eyes widened as she followed Luna's logic. "If Malfoy holds onto Harry's wand, he'll be unable to lie."

"No way," Harry said immediately. "I don't want that git touching my wand."

"It'll be fine," Hermione assured Harry. "If he tries anything funny, then we'll take him down immediately. You need to accept that Malfoy's treatment of us for the past years of school might not have been his fault."

Harry scowled, but he didn't push it.

Taking his silence as agreement, Luna and Hermione reentered the room with their fiancés right behind. Malfoy stared at them with scared eyes and Harry found himself pitying the bound Slytherin.

Luna walked around to Malfoy's back. "We're going to put a wand in your hand," she said calmly. "If you even try to cast a spell, you'll be hexed before the magic even reaches the wand. Understand?" At Malfoy's affirmative nod, Luna put the griffin wand in his hand.

"Now we're going to ask you some questions," Hermione said. "Don't let go of that wand or we'll start all over. Do you support Voldemort's cause?"

Malfoy flinched at the use of Voldemort's name, but his answer was steady. "No. I can't support someone who feels pleasure at the murder of a five-year-old girl. The entire idea that I'm supposed to be better than others because my mother and father are like second-cousins is bizarre. But, I don't like the Light crap that Dumbledore spews all the time. I mean seriously, how can you win a war with stunners?"

That brought a laugh out of Neville and a reluctant chuckle from Harry.

"How do your fellow Slytherins feel?" Hermione asked.

Malfoy scoffed. "Most of them support…the Dark Lord. Crabbe and Goyle are too stupid to do anything else. But, some Slytherins just support what's in their own best interests, Blaise for example."

"Do you think that they would fight against Voldemort?" Neville asked. "Because that psychopath roaming free around the world hardly seems like something that would be in their best interests."

"They might," Malfoy said hesitantly. "If they felt that they would be on the winning side."

"And what about you?" Harry asked sharply. "Would you fight against Voldemort?"

Unable to lie, Malfoy said, "If I wouldn't be killed. It wouldn't matter the side so long as I can live a nice long life. Do you feel that you'll be on the winning side? Or are you going to try to kill Voldemort with a stinging hex?"

Harry glared at him. "I'll kill him with the AK if I need to. But, I am going to kill him. Because no one will be safe while he's still alive."

Malfoy nodded in understanding. "And what makes you think that you'll be able to defeat him?"

Harry frowned for a moment before exhaling and decided to take the chance. "Because I am Godric Gryffindor's Spiritual Heir. I am destined to defeat Voldemort. I have been trained by a goblin and have earned the goblin name of Lightscar. You can either join us, or you can be taken care of like the other Death Eaters."

Malfoy remained silent for a moment. His eyes darted between Harry and the others as he weighed his options. After a moment of consideration, he let out a breath and nodded. "I'll join you," he said.

"Excellent," Luna said cheerfully. "But, we'll need an assurance."

"The Unbreakable Vow?" asked Malfoy fearfully.

Luna's eyes narrowed, much like they did when she was Storm. "We would never ask for that," she hissed. "Instead, we're just going to cast a couple spells so if you do switch sides, you won't be able to betray us."

Malfoy hesitated for a moment. "What type of spells?" he asked warily.

"Nothing that we wouldn't do if you had said no," Hermione assured him.

After Malfoy gave his consent, Harry, Hermione, and Luna each cast a spell that came from the race that they had been trained by. Harry cast a goblin loyalty spell that would prevent Malfoy from betraying them and trying to cause them harm. Luna cast a fairy spell that would let her know if Malfoy had switched sides. And, Hermione cast an elf spell that would clear Malfoy's mind of everything to do with them if Luna's spell went off.

The three different types of magic threatened to overwhelm Malfoy for a moment. When the initial casting passed, Malfoy was left feeling a little feverish, but otherwise unharmed.

Neville dug his hands in his robes and pulled out an herb. He then held it on front of Malfoy's mouth. "Open up," he said. "This will help your body accept the foreign magics so you won't feel like crap."

Malfoy did as instructed and opened his mouth. Neville put the herb on his tongue and instructed Malfoy to let the herb sit on his tongue and let the juices flow into his mouth. When his mouth was full of the bitter juice, Malfoy swallowed and he immediately felt better. The feverish magic seemed to mold with his own and his body stopped fighting it.

"Better?" Neville asked.

"Much, thanks," Malfoy replied with a dry smile. "Can I be untied now?"

Harry stepped forward and took his wand back before he waved his hand and banished the chains using goblin magic. He then stepped back to let Hermione heal Malfoy's wrists. Malfoy stood up and stretched his limbs and gave the four a shy, but grateful, smile.

"So, what happens now?" he asked. "If I go home, then the Dark Lord will force me to take his mark."

"First off, you need to call Voldemort by his name, we don't say 'Dark Lord' or 'You-know-who' or 'He-who-must-not-be-named'. It's ridiculous to fear a name. We either call him Voldemort or Tom. And as for where you go, I suppose I can take you in as my ward in the House of Black," Harry said. "That way your mother will not be able to take you to your home where Voldemort is waiting."

Malfoy nodded. "I love my mother, but she does whatever the strong family members tell her to. Now that Father is dead, I suppose that she's going to follow V-V-Voldemort's and Aunt Bellatrix's orders. Wait," Malfoy said suddenly, panicked. "What happened to Severus?"

"He was going to let Dumbledore kill you," Hermione told him gently. "In order to avoid being killed by his Unbreakable Vow."

"No," Malfoy moaned. "That can't be true. Severus always treated me so well…it couldn't have been a lie."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said awkwardly. "He dueled with Dumbledore in order to not go against his vow, but when he lost he seemed pleased. Don't you remember Snape not coming to your aid when you were trying to kill Dumbledore?"

Malfoy shook his head desperately. "I don't remember attacking Dumbledore at all! How could Severus do this to me?"

"Snape is Dumbledore's man," Neville said sympathetically. "He may be a Death Eater, but Dumbledore is the one pulling the strings."

Malfoy was silent for a moment before he looked up at Harry with hard, now blue, eyes. "I want to stop V-V-Voldemort, but Dumbledore needs to be stopped too. Can I help?"

Harry nodded. "We need to start gathering more allies. Would you like to be a ward of the House of Black?"

"Yes," Malfoy said with a nod as he stepped up to face Harry. "Thank you. Maybe now, we can start off on a new foot. I'm Draco," he said as he extended his hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"I'm Harry," Harry responded as he gripped Draco's hand and shook it firmly. "Welcome to the Gray."

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><p><strong>AN- I love it when Draco becomes an ally. Review! -Phoenix**


	5. An Army Gathering

**A/N- Okay, first off this if my story and I always have a plan for how I portray my characters so please stop giving me grief for making Hermione too strong. Second, you'll have to wait and see what Hermione flinching meant, lol. Review! –Phoenix**

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><p>Hermione struggled to get her now pointy ears to stay in the fedora that she had borrowed from Harry to wear. Her jeans and t-shirt were now too big for her as her body was much leaner than it had been and she felt like she was wearing a tent. She threw on a jacket and gazed at her appearance in the mirror with a sigh.<p>

"Now I need to put on the contacts that Winky got me," she said out loud.

Walking into hers and Harry's bathroom, she opened the contact case and stared at the brown contacts that Winky had kindly gotten for her. They weren't the same shade as her eyes, but they would cover the slits that her eyes now had.

She stood in front of the mirror for a few minutes, just staring at the things that she now had to do in order to even go in the muggle world. She had come to accept that everyone in the wizarding world would know that she was now half-elf, but that didn't make it any easier.

_If they thought my blood was dirty before, just wait till they see me now,_ Hermione thought sadly.

It wasn't even a minute later that she found herself being pulled into Harry's chest.

"I felt your sorrow, what's wrong?" he asked gently.

Hermione sniffed and gave Harry a watery smile. "I'm just finally realizing what my new appearance means. No offense Love, but your fedora is tacky," she teased.

Harry gave her a mock look of indignation. "That hat, I'll have you know, makes me look like quite the charmer. Although, it does look much sexier on you."

Hermione giggled. "I suppose. It's just hard to lose half of myself. Don't get me wrong, I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but that doesn't make it easier."

"Come on," Harry said, grabbing Hermione's hand. "The familiars decided to stay on the property while we went out. I am going to treat you to a new wardrobe."

"Harry," Hermione protested. "I have my own money."

Harry smirked and started to pull her out of their room. "What's the point of being a Lord if I can't use the money to spoil my beautiful fiancé rotten?"

That got Hermione to chuckle. They joined Neville and Luna in the foyer and apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. Before they attracted any more attention, they were out of the pub and joined the crowded streets of London. Hermione made sure to keep her hat secured on her head, although she complained that her parents would scold her for her poor manners when she continued to wear the hat when indoors.

Hermione and Luna had a blast shopping for new clothes. While Luna didn't need that much, Hermione basically needed a whole new wardrobe and as her best friend, Luna was all too happy to help.

While the girls shopped, their fiancés sat by the changing rooms and gave them their opinions of what they modeled. Hermione had Harry practically drooling when she modeled a bikini that she had picked out and Luna quickly got one for herself which got the same reaction out of Neville who gave an almost animalistic growl. The bikinis were immediately put on the 'buy' pile.

After an hour of shopping, they left with many bags that the boys ended up carrying. As soon as they were out of sight, the shrunk the bags and continued shopping. Hermione dragged them to a muggle bookstore and she and Luna spent another hour in there. If possible, they left the bookstore with more bags than they had from the clothing store. As a simple solution to Hermione's predicament, Harry purchased himself, Luna and Neville a pair of elf ears from the children's reading section and they all wore them around London so that Hermione could take off the hat.

At Hermione's insistence, they went to a baby store and purchased some baby supplies for Winky and Dobby since Hermione knew that they wouldn't have anything of their own and wouldn't ask. Hermione picked out a small bassinet for the baby and Luna picked out a wrap baby carrier for Winky to carry the baby in when it was born. The boys, of course, just served as the bag carriers, but they were happy to do it so long as the girls didn't take too long.

When they got enough for Dobby and Winky, they left London and started heading towards Diagon Alley. Once they walked through the brick wall, Hermione took out her contacts and her friends took off their fake ears.

"It'll be okay," Harry assured her softly.

"I know," Hermione responded cheerfully. "Besides, people will most likely be staring at you rather than me."

Hermione's prediction couldn't have been more off. As soon as they were within sight, wizards and witches started crowding around them, staring at the four who had played such a big part in the Battle of Blood. Hermione fidgeted uncomfortably when people started pointing at her ears and pushed through the gathering and walked determinedly to Gringotts with Harry right beside her.

Once they were inside Gringotts, the goblins prevented the crowd from continuing to stalk them. They were escorted to Ragnok's office where their friend was waiting for them.

He greeted Hermione pleasantly as they hadn't seen each other in a long time. He asked her about her time with the elves and complimented her on her new appearance, knowing that she must have done something incredible to be turned into a half-elf.

"Are you skilled in the elven ways of forging blades?" Ragnok asked eagerly. "Between the elves' ability to truly forge a blade with magic and the goblin's way of forging indestructible blades, we could forge swords for our armies that are unbeatable."

Hermione bit her lip thoughtfully. "I would have to discuss that with My Lady Mother. She would most likely agree if it was me or another elf doing the forging so that the art stays with our species."

Ragnok nodded. "King Zesd would want the same thing. Would you ask your mother? With a war coming up, we could use all the resources available. I have already talked to Luna and Neville about what resources that the fairies and centaurs have that we could use. The centaurs are working on strengthening magical herbs and are constantly scrying the planets for anything that's useful and the fairies are working on blessing little trinkets for our army's protection."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I'm impressed. You guys have been busy this summer."

"Of course," Harry said simply. "War could happen anytime and we need to be ready. Plus, it takes time to raise an army. Gringotts is funding it as long as the other races contribute what they can and we fight for goblin rights when the war is over. Luna has been working with Ragnok a lot during the summer, making plans."

"Where is base camp?"

"One of the Potter properties," Harry answered. "I asked over half of the Potter Elves to move there and keep the place running. The goblins have made a great training ground there and new warriors are currently being trained there along with younger centaurs. The centaur herd that Neville trained with moved to the forest nearby and they help with the combat training when they're not scrying."

Hermione bit her lip thoughtfully. "And they don't mind living together?"

Ragnok shrugged. "They live. Would the elves like to take part as well? Luna and I both agreed that younger warriors would be more adaptable to fighting alongside other species so we're trying to form a squadron of mixed warriors. We have found that older warriors are a little more…reluctant to fight alongside one that is not their kind."

"I will discuss your suggestions with My Lady Mother," Hermione promised.

The rest of their meeting was spent discussing the latest attempt of Dumbledore to discriminate against the other species. It was remarkable just how self-righteous the old, manipulative bastard was. Using methods that he wouldn't share, Ragnok had discovered that Dumbledore planned on banishing the remainder of the centaur herd out of the Forbidden Forest. That piece of information had made Neville downright furious.

"The only ones who are still living in the forest are the elders and the young ones," he said hotly. "And that's because they aren't strong enough to make the journey. They won't be able to defend themselves with only the handful of warriors who stayed with them!"

Luna took Neville's hand in her own and he instantly calmed down. "Would they accept Harry's temporary portkey now?" she asked. "The only reason that they're still there is because the young ones are still too young to portkey and the elders are too stubborn to accept wizard magic."

Neville sighed heavily. "The elders are set in their ways. The youngest centaur in the herd is almost old enough so she won't be harmed by the portkey journey. I would recommend that the elders go to the base on foot as they did in the old times, but they won't make the journey. And centaurs are very respectful of their elders, they won't abandon them. If they have to, the herd will fight to protect their weakest."

Harry gave Neville a supporting smile. "It won't come to that," he said. "We'll fight him on it. We could look into alternative options. Perhaps just rent a bunch of horse trailers and drive them if all else fails."

"You would get quite a bit of crap for that," Neville chuckled. "It would need to be a pretty impressive trailer."

"If Hermione agrees, we could charm one to fit their tastes, within reason of course," Luna offered.

Neville beamed at his fiancé. "I'll talk to them about it. You're amazing, Love."

The rest of the meeting passed quickly and the four were soon leaving Gringotts. Neville left to talk to the centaur herd while Harry offered to return home, giving Hermione and Luna time to themselves. The two best friends hadn't had a lot of time to talk since Hermione's return, and they planned on catching up.

"What do you want to do?" Hermione asked Luna.

Luna thought about it for a moment. "Even though we don't have the centaur's agreement yet, we could still go look at trailers and maybe even cars that we could enchant."

Hermione nodded eagerly. "That sounds great! Let's go."

The two witches left Diagon Alley, after Hermione had managed to get her ears back in the hat. They walked to a deserted alley before Hermione apparated them to the edge of the city where she knew a car dealership resided.

After an hour of looking over cars and discussing details with the dealer, something that was much easier since Hermione could tell when the man was lying, they decided to purchase a simple Albany car with four doors that was blue with tinted windows. The dealer's jaw was practically on the floor when they paid for the car in full. Hermione even felt satisfaction that she used her own money to pay for the car instead of Harry's.

When the paperwork was signed, Hermione took the keys and the girls drove the car off of the lot.

"When did you get your license?" Luna asked as they drove.

Hermione grinned at her friend. "I wanted to surprise Harry. The license that I showed the dealer wasn't a magical one. Last year when I went out during the weekends, I was taking classes. I thought that it couldn't hurt to have my license. I actually passed the test right before exams."

Luna nodded, impressed. "So, now what? Are we honestly going to drive all the way home?"

"I wouldn't know where to go," Hermione admitted. "I thought that we would go pick up a horse trailer and them shrink them before taking our portkeys home. Does that sound okay?"

"That sounds great."

An hour later, Hermione and Luna were signing the papers for a trailer and after some notice-me-not- charms, they shrunk it and the car before they portkeyed back home. They immediately went to the barn that Harry had had constructed where they changed the car and trailer back to normal.

"What sort of enchantments will we need on this?" Hermione asked as she took out a small notepad and pen from her pocket.

Luna walked up to the car and sat down on the hood. "Extension, of course, for both of them. Strengthening, comfort, undetectable, and we'll need to charm the trailer to seem like a forest. I'm sure that Neville and Harry will also want to add some odd charms of their own."

Hermione nodded as she wrote a list of enchantments to add. When she was done, she put the pen and paper aside and took out her original wand. "We could get the extension enchantments done by the end of today if we start now."

The girls started on the car. It was very complicated to enchant such a large object, but they were two very bright witches.

While they worked on enchanting the car, they talked about their summers. Hermione talked about the elves, Luna talked about the fairies. Luna cried about her father's murder and Hermione offered some comfort. When they got to the topic of their finished training, Luna stopped casting spells and looked at Hermione with a stern expression.

"I don't like the idea of sparring to the point when one of us is critically injured," she said to Hermione. "We can't hurt each other, Hermione. Even if you can heal the injuries, you shouldn't be giving them."

Hermione looked at Luna with a wary smile. "I don't like it either," she admitted. "But, elves duel to the fullest extent of their abilities. I'm sorry that my changes bother you."

Luna immediately shook her head. "Hermione, I don't care that you're half-elf now, in fact I think that it's great. I guess, that your now elven ways just clash against the ways of the fairies. Fairies aren't aggressive and they prefer to avoid conflict. Even if they do need to fight, they do it indirectly. I think that we just need to accept each other's differences now. Plus, it's not like we were exactly similar before you left."

Hermione giggled at that. Silence filled the workspace for a moment as Hermione gazed upon her engagement ring, returned to her that morning. "Luna, do you think of life after war?" she asked softly.

"Of course," Luna said immediately. "I plan on surviving and marrying Neville. Then I would like to take time to travel with him across the world, looking for exotic creatures while he looks for plants."

"What about children?" Hermione asked. "Do you see yourself as a mother in a few years?"

Luna tilted her head as she thought about it. "I would love to have Neville's child," she said after a moment. "What about you?"

Hermione smiled at her best friend. "Nothing would make me happier than to have Harry's child. Luna, would you promise me something?"

"If I can."

Hermione stepped over to Luna and took her hands and squeezed them. "If I ever am lucky enough to have a child, and something happens to me, would you raise my child with Harry? He or she will need a mother figure and I couldn't think of anyone better than my best friend."

Luna smiled as her gray eyes glistened with tears. "I would love to, but only if you do the same thing if something should happen to me."

"Deal," Hermione said with a sad smile.

* * *

><p>While the girls were hanging out together and Neville was visiting the centaur herd, Harry went to visit Goldengaze's grave. He sat down next to the grave marker for over an hour, just talking to his departed friend.<p>

"Having Hermione back makes everything better," he said. "But, if you were here it would make everything complete. Willowsong laughs and jokes, but the happiness doesn't reach her eyes. Robin has started bouncing back. None of us can figure out how you passed the Founder's Blessing to her, and we haven't told her yet. Actually, none of us even understand what the Founder's Blessing is yet. All that we have found is that it can activate Hogwarts' true magic."

A breeze blew across the grounds and Harry felt comforted by its presence. It was as if Goldengaze hadn't left them after all.

Light laughter carried in the air, causing Harry to turn and smile. Robin was attempting to get into her inner-feline by stalking him. Her body was crouched low to the ground but her tail was still twitching in the air. When she saw Harry looking at her she sat up and pouted.

"No fair," she whined. "The prey isn't supposed to turn and watch while the hunter stalks and pounces!"

"Would you like me to turn around and ignore you then?" Harry laughed.

Robin rolled her eyes in exasperation. "That would be stupid. You would still know that I was stalking you. Why are you sitting by Dad's grave?"

Harry smiled sadly and patted the ground next to him. "I like to come and talk to him. Your dad was my friend and I owe him my life."

Robin nodded sadly and sat down next to him. "I miss him too," she said softly. "I'm afraid that I'm going to forget him," she confessed. "Griffins are immortal. I could live forever. What if I forget what his fur felt like when I curled up against him to sleep?" she asked Harry sorrowfully.

When the young griffin began shaking with silent sobs, Harry put his arm around her and pulled her closer.

"Things might get fuzzy, and you might forget someone's warmth," he said softly. "But, you will never forget him. Even though you'll outlive me, I'll always remind you of just how brave your father was. Plus, your mother will be there too."

Robin chuckled. "Mom has gotten really overprotective since Dad died," she said softly. "I mean, I know that everyone tries to protect me, but I'm a griffin, I don't need protecting. How am I supposed to be a strong, brave griffin like Dad if I'm not allowed to fly more than ten feet off the ground?"

Harry looked into Robin's golden eyes. "We don't want you to get hurt. But, I suppose that we do coddle you a bit. If you'd like, I could give you a flying lesson, though your mum can't know about it," he said with a big smile.

Immediately, Robin thrust her head into Harry's stomach in joy. "Please, please, please, please?" she begged excitedly. "Can you teach me now?"

"How can I say no to that?" Harry laughed.

He stepped back and shifted into his phoenix form. He gave his wings a good stretch before turning to face Robin.

"_I've noticed that when you fly, you try to force too much power in your wings_," Ashes instructed. "_Flying isn't all about strength; it's about using the air. When you fly with the air currents, you use less energy. Stretch out your wings_."

The young griffin did as was instructed. Her wings were not as strong as they could be, Ashes noticed, but that was most likely because she was not allowed to do a lot of flying.

_Maybe we are too overprotective_, he thought sadly. _I wish that I hadn't been protected and had been given the choice on how to live. We're sort of doing to Robin what Dumbledore did to me_.

Ashes beat his wings easily and hovered a couple of feet off the ground. "_Until you get to greater heights, you will need to rely on your own strength to fly. Your wings need to get strong. Do griffins do any branching_?"

Robin beat her wings and hovered with more difficulty than Ashes. "Do you mean cliff jumping? Dad taught me to beat my wings to make it from cliff to cliff."

"_That's pretty much what I'm talking about. That's meant to help strengthen your wings. For now, we'll focus on that_."

The two made their way over to the training grounds. There, Ashes had Robin strengthen her wings by flying up to the top of the training equipment repeatedly. By the end of a couple hours, Robin was shaking with exhaustion, but she was having too much fun to stop. The young griffin certainly had a stubborn streak, but that's part of what made her so admirable.

"What are you doing?" a sharp voice called down.

Flinching, Ashes looked up from his perch and saw Willowsong gliding down to the ground. She was radiating with disapproval and immediately used her paw to gently flatten Robin to the ground before she could fly back to the top of the equipment.

Ashes quickly shifted back into Harry and gave Willowsong a hesitant smile. "I was just helping Robin to strengthen her wings. She wants to fly and I wanted to help."

Willowsong glared at him. "Don't you think that that's up to her **mother** to decide?" she demanded fiercely. "I won't have my daughter learning to fly before she's ready."

"But Mum," Robin protested as she pushed Willowsong's paw off her. "I am ready. Harry was only trying to help. You are too eager to keep me grounded, but I don't want to be. I want to fly and now that Dad isn't here, I need a new teacher."

"I could teach you," Willowsong offered. "You are my child, so it's only right."

Robin bowed her head sadly. "But you won't teach me," she said softly. "You keep telling me that I'm not ready, you keep acting like I'll break if I fall two feet. How can I be a strong griffin like Dad if you won't teach me to fly?"

Willowsong turned her head bitterly. "Look where being strong got your father," she cried. "I will not lose you like I lost him."

Robin cuddled against her mother. "I'm not going anywhere," she said.

Seeing the mother and daughter mourn the death of their father/mate made Harry yearn for Hermione's warm presence by his side. He gave Willowsong a heartfelt apology for going behind her back to teach Robin and promised that he would only teach her again if it was her wish. After Willowsong agreed to that, he shifted back into Ashes and flew to the manor.

He went to the library and sat heavily in front of his parents' portrait. While it wasn't the same as physical contact, it still offered him some comfort.

"Harry, are you alright?" his mother asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure," Harry sighed heavily. "I just really miss everyone we've lost. You guys, Cedric, Sirius, and Goldengaze. Even those who died that I didn't know, like Hermione's parents, Luna's father, or even Neville's parents who are beyond help. I hate war."

James Potter looked at his son sympathetically. "There's nothing good about war, son."

Harry sank into his chair. "I don't think that I could handle losing anyone else close to me," he said quietly. "It might break me."

Lily put her hand against the canvas of the portrait, tears filling her eyes. Even though she wasn't real, Harry still stood up and put his hand against hers.

"You're strong, you'll prevail, but you will most likely lose someone who you love," she said tearfully.

Harry nodded bitterly. He opened his mouth to speak, but the door opening behind him interrupted his train of thought.

Turning around, he saw a nervous Draco Malfoy peering into the library. After their previous encounter at Black Manor, they had decided to relocate him to Potter Manor where they could get to know their ally a little better.

"Hey, Draco," Harry greeted. "How's exploring coming?"

Draco shrugged and frowned when he saw the portrait. "I'm sorry, you're talking. I just wanted to see what was behind the door."

Harry shrugged. "This is the Potter Library. There's pretty much every book that you could ever want on magic."

Draco gazed admirably at the selection of books. "Your library is easily at least twice the size of the Malfoy Library. Could I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," Harry answered. At Draco's confused expression he added, "It means go ahead."

Draco looked uneasily at the floor. "I was wondering if you could train me," he said after a moment. "You said that you were trained by other creatures, and I was wondering if you could train me in their ways."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. Turning to his parents he said, "I'll visit later, Mum, Dad."

"See you later, son," James said cheerfully. "Try not to kill the Slytherin!"

"I won't," Harry called back. He left the library with Draco and led him to the basement of the manor. "I don't know what species you are best adept in, so we're going to try out a few weapons. If you're capable of the goblin style, then I will teach you."

"And if I'm not?" Draco asked.

Harry shrugged. "Then you'll be trained by someone whose style you are most combatable with."

Draco nodded in understanding. "So, are you going to tell me why you trained with the goblins? Or do I need to prove myself first."

"We'll tell you eventually," Harry promised. "We don't believe in hiding things from those who are fighting alongside us. Have you thought of any other Slytherins who would fight with us?"

"The only ones who are loyal enough to those who they fight with are Blaise and the Greengrass sisters," Draco responded. "They choose the side that will benefit them the most, but they'll be loyal to their comrades. Would you like me to owl them?"

Harry nodded. "We're going to contact students who will most likely fight with us within the next couple days. Because you're a ward of the House of Black, you have the right to live here in Potter Manor. If you agree that is. We just thought that you wouldn't be safe living in Slytherin after you've been missing for a whole summer."

Draco nodded in agreement. "But, that means that I will openly be declaring myself against the Dark Lord," he said worriedly. "What if he comes for me?"

"We're working on precautions," Harry assured him. They reached the basement door and started walking down the stairs.

Draco gaped in astonishment at the assortment of weapons that lined the basement's walls. There were swords, daggers, bows, and axes. They all varied in type and length and Draco could tell that some of them were meant for different styles of fighting.

"I think that you're built more for either goblin or elven fighting style," Harry told him as he went to take a few swords off the wall. "Goblin fighting is about using your opponents own strength against them to make up for the difference in size. It's meant for the strong, agile types. Elven fighting, from what I learned from Hermione, is about fighting with grace and using your weapons as an extension of yourself. You strike and kill before your opponent knows what hit them. That's meant for graceful types."

"What types are Neville and Luna?" Draco asked.

Harry walked over to Draco with five swords in his grasp. "Neville is brawny; he's the ideal candidate for the centaur style. Luna doesn't fight with blades very often because she was trained by fairies. If you aren't ideal for any fighting group, then Luna will take you in for her strategy group."

Draco took one of the offered blades from Harry. "Why are you telling me all this? I was so horrible to you."

"You were influenced by dark magic," Harry said with a shrug. "You have the chance to prove yourself. Plus, if you do betray us you won't remember anything anyway and no amount of Legilimency will be able to find the information."

"Lovely," Draco groaned as he unsheathed the blade.

The sword was forged for the goblin style of fighting. It was light, but sturdy enough that if used correctly it could help take down even the most powerful blades. When Draco held it he gazed at it worriedly. At Harry's instruction he gave it an experimental swing and soon found the blade taken from his hands by Harry.

"Nope," Harry said. "You're too unbalanced with that blade. Try this one."

They went through four more swords and all four of them were poor fits for Draco. Harry put them back on the wall and came back with one different sword.

"Try this," Harry said with a strained smile.

Draco unsheathed the sword and gave it an experimental swing. It felt much better in his grasp. He didn't feel unbalanced at all. He gave it another swing and found himself smiling. The sword felt like a part of him. Almost like his wand did.

Too soon for Draco's liking, the sword was taken from him and gently sheathed.

"This is Hermione's sword," Harry explained. "She left it down here for combat testing until she gets more blades. You're more capable to learn the elven fighting style."

"So…Hermione is going to be my teacher?" Draco asked hesitantly. "But, I was so cruel to her and it was my father who almost killed her."

Harry put the sword back on the wall and led Draco out of the basement. "She doesn't blame you," he assured him. "Now, would you write a list of any other of age students, Slytherin or otherwise, who you think would fight with us?"

Draco nodded and turned to walk towards his room. "Why do you need a list so urgently?" he asked.

"Because we're in a war," Harry said grimly. "And we need an army. If things go as planned, we'll have an army of wizards, witches, goblins, elves, centaurs, fairies, and whoever else will fight. We're forming the Unity Army, and we plan on being victorious."

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><p><strong>AN- Review! -Phoenix**


	6. Return to Hogwarts

**A/N- For those who followed my first story, Harry Potter and the Spiritual Heirs, last year you might remember that I went off the grid for the whole summer. I'm working at the same camp this summer so unfortunately I will once again be off the grid. I might get a chapter or two out, but I'm not making promises. Review! –Phoenix**

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><p>Harry breathed heavily as he fell back on his pillow. His body was sweaty and he could feel his heart going a million miles an hour, but he had never been more content. On his chest, an equally breathless Hermione was laying her head and was pulling the sheets up to cover her chest. Beaming, she turned her head towards Harry and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.<p>

"I love you," she said with a warm smile.

Harry beamed back at her and kissed her bushy hair. "I love you too," he whispered. "And no matter what happens today, I just want you to know that I will protect you with my life."

Hermione turned her face into Harry's bare chest and inhaled deeply. "I can protect you too," she said quietly.

The engaged couple had spent the remainder of their summer holiday preparing for the war during the day, and being intimate during the night. They could barely handle being parted from each other.

With a heavy sigh, Harry turned his head toward the clock on his nightstand and groaned. "Love, it's time to get ready," he said. "Do you want first shower?"

Hermione looked at him and gave him a seductive smile. "Why don't we shower together?"

Blushing bright red, Harry chuckled. "As much as I would love to, we would take too long together. Wouldn't want to be late on the first day of school, would we?"

"I don't really care," Hermione said honestly. "If we didn't need to recruit some students and keep an eye on Dumbledore, I would leave and never go back. I just want to stay with you."

Harry looked at her curiously. "The brightest witch of our age doesn't want to go to school? Merlin, Hermione, what changed?"

Hermione frowned and got out of bed with the sheet still wrapped around her. "I have more important things on my mind than more information about goblin rebellions," she said seriously. "I just don't think that Hogwarts has any more to offer me."

Unable to say anything to that, Harry got out of bed as well and threw on some boxers while Hermione took the first shower. While he got his stuff out for the day, he tried to push back the feeling of uneasiness that he had felt when Hermione announced her new opinion of Hogwarts.

_I never thought that Hermione would ever lose that perfect student attitude that I love so much_, Harry thought. _War really has changed us; I just hope that we can get back to our old lives when it's over. But, what really bothers me is the feeling of resignation that I sense from her whenever we talk about the future._ Harry took his book-bag off of the floor and tossed in the books for school before he looked back at the bathroom door with a worried look on his face. _What are you hiding from me, Hermione?_

A couple minutes later, Hermione exited the bathroom in nothing but bra and panties with her hair wrapped up on her towel. "All yours," she said cheerfully.

"Thanks, Love," Harry said with a smile of his own.

By the time he was done getting ready, everyone was eating breakfast. He took his usual seat next to Hermione and bid everyone good morning.

Breakfast was quiet. None of them were looking forward to going to school, but none of them would complain about it either to the others. After everyone finished eating, the Heirs, their familiars, and Draco said goodbye to Dobby, Winky, Willowsong, and Robin, they used their portkeys to get to Hogwarts.

When they arrived, they went straight to the Great Hall where the rest of school would still be eating and class schedules would be passed out. Draco was, unsurprisingly, nervous. When they entered the Great Hall, Draco went right up to a very surprised Snape while the Heirs went to their respective heads of house to receive their class schedules.

"Mister Malfoy," Snape said softly, but not so softly that Hermione's sharp ears couldn't pick up. "Would you care to tell me where you have been this summer? Your mother is most concerned."

Hermione tugged at Harry's sleeve and nodded her head towards Draco. Harry's eyes narrowed and he stepped forward.

"Snape, I trust that you're not harassing a ward of the House of Black?" Harry demanded.

Snape glared at Harry. "Mister Malfoy would not lower himself to being a ward of your house," he sneered. "Perhaps you held him captive all summer?"

_Not far off the mark_, Harry thought in amusement. "Draco requested to be taken in as a ward of one of my Houses. Harassing him is a direct insult to me."

"My boy," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Why would you think that Professor Snape is harassing his student? He was merely showing concern for young Mister Malfoy's whereabouts. Much like I have been concerned with yours." His blue eyes drifted over to Hermione and Harry noticed that they got cold when they noticed her pointed ears. "Miss Granger, would you care to explain why you are now half-elf?" he demanded, not bothering to keep his voice down.

Hermione smirked and shrugged. "Not really," she answered. "It's not your business." She then pointedly ignored him as she received her schedule from McGonagall.

"It is my business when there are other races in my school," Dumbledore insisted, adapting to his grandfather tone.

"You know what I am, you don't need to know how or why," Hermione responded firmly. "That is my business."

Somewhere behind them, Harry assumed from the Slytherin table, someone shouted, "Looks like the mudblood didn't think her blood was filthy enough! Now she's half-breed scum!"

Harry was about to curse the arse into oblivion, but one look from Hermione's calm, slit eyes, forced him to gather himself.

"Any insult to my fiancée is an insult to the Ancient Houses of Potter and Black," Harry announced loudly, his voice carrying through the Great Hall. "I would strongly recommend that everyone remember that."

Harry felt a flash of rage come from behind him and a brief turn of his head told him that it was coming from Ginny Weasley. He was about to get his own schedule when he felt a sudden surge of adrenaline and fear; the type of combination that usually came right before an attack.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw a jet of red light some speeding towards Hermione. Instinct taking over, he placed himself in front of her and raised his wand.

"Protego!" he shouted.

The shield appeared in front of him and held strong when the spell made contact. Once the spell made contact, Harry pushed more magic into it and forced the spell to rebound to its caster. He felt grim satisfaction when the rebounded spell made contact, making its caster erupt in painful boils and cry out in pain.

"Ginny!" Ron shouted next to her. He tore his furious eyes away from his hurt sister to glare at Harry. "What was that for, Potter? Isn't it enough that you weaseled out of your betrothal contract with my sister? Now you want to cause her harm too?"

Harry dispelled the shield charm and glared right back at him. "Your sister attempted to hex my fiancée. I merely protected her. It's not my fault that your sister can't accept what was never there."

Dumbledore stood up and gave Harry a kind smile. "Mister Potter, while Miss Weasley was the one to cast the first spell, I am afraid that you cast harmful magic yourself and have injured your classmate. That will be twenty points from Gryffindor."

Harry didn't look at Dumbledore; instead he turned his gaze towards McGonagall. "You know that that's wrong," he told her. "Are you going to do anything about it? Or are you going to let your loyalty to Dumbledore blind you forever?"

McGonagall's eyes widened for a second before narrowing. "Albus, the boy is right, the punishment is wrong. Miss Weasley initiated the attack and therefore she should be the one who is punished, not Mister Potter."

"I feel that Miss Weasley has learned her lesson," Dumbledore said firmly. "There is no need to punish one who is in pain from a spell that her fiancée thrust upon her."

Harry rolled his eyes and finally took his schedule before taking Hermione's hand. "I would never harm my fiancée. Those who try to harm her however will receive no mercy from me. Next time, Ginny won't get off so easy."

Dumbledore stood and gazed at Harry with firm eyes. "Miss Granger is not your fiancée," he insisted. "You are betrothed to Miss Weasley."

"That contract only bonded me as a Potter," Harry snapped. "It didn't bond me as a Potter-Black. You're over your head with your meddling. You have no control over me. I know that the prophecy that you told me wasn't valid and I know that you've been trying to control my assets. You think that you have the right to make these decisions for the 'greater good', but you don't. You have no right to control peoples' lives!"

Dumbledore smiled at Harry condescendingly. "My dear boy, I am not trying to control anyone. I am merely trying to lead the Light to the defeat of Voldemort. If you would stop fighting me, then we would end this war that much quicker and we could save countless lives."

Harry scoffed at the headmaster. "You could help speed up the war if you were honest with those who fight with you."

Before the old headmaster could respond, Harry led his friends out of the Great Hall. Whispers carried in the hall as students talked about the event that had just transpired. Harry noticed that Hermione had her head tilted slightly towards the Slytherin table, undoubtedly eavesdropping on their conversations. He slowed his pace slightly to give Hermione more time. When she gave a small, affirmative nod, he resumed his previous pace and they left the hall.

"I heard Crabbe, Goyle and Nott talking about catching Draco unawares in order to find out what happened to him," Hermione informed them as they walked towards their first class. "Draco, are they unswayable Voldemort supporters?"

Draco nodded. "Their families run in Voldemort's inner circle. They were planning about getting their marks after the attack on Hogwarts."

Harry looked at Kex who was on his faithful perch on Harry's shoulder. "Kex, do you mind accompanying Draco during school? If you disillusion yourself, then you could provide backup if needed."

Kex nodded in agreement. "_Draco can't understand me though, he hasn't given you the oath_," he pointed out. "_Is it right to ask him to give that oath so soon after he joined us?"_

Harry looked at Draco. "It will be his choice. Draco, there is a way for you to understand the familiars."

"Really?" Draco asked in interest. He had been fascinated by the magic that the familiars possessed and he was always eager to learn more. "How?"

"It's a magical oath," Luna told him. "An oath to swear that you're a true friend. But, if you took the oath and then broke it, you would lose your magic."

Draco's eyes widened. "I don't want that. Not that I plan on betraying you guys," he added hurriedly.

Neville laughed in amusement. "No worries, Draco. We know that it's a lot to ask. I don't think it will be that big a deal if Draco can't understand Kex. Kex will be spitting and snarling enough that Draco will have to know that something is going on."

"I suppose," Harry chuckled.

He held out his arm and allowed Kex to walk across it and leap onto Draco's shoulders. Draco winced when Kex's claws dug into his skin, but he didn't complain. Kex chatted happily, though Draco didn't understand any of it.

"Alright, but what will having a pine marten on my shoulder do?" Draco asked.

"Kex is magical," Harry explained. "If you're ambushed, he could shield you and then apparate you to me. You'll be safe with them."

Draco nodded, looking more assured. "Alright, I've got Charms with the Hufflepuffs. So, after classes you portkey back to Potter Manor?"

Harry nodded. "We'll see you at lunch. Meet us outside the Great Hall and we'll show you where we eat now."

The Slytherin nodded in understanding and gripped his bag tighter. Then, with a disillusioned Kex on his shoulder, he started walking towards Charms. Luna then bid her friends, especially Neville, farewell and started walking towards the greenhouses for Herbology. The three remaining Heirs and the two remaining familiars suppressed their heavy sighs and walked down to Potions. School was back in session.

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><p><strong>AN- Sorry for a short filler chapter as my last update before I leave. I'm busy filling out applications and I'm leaving in a couple days. If I don't update, I hope that everyone has a great summer and I hope that you'll continue reading my story when I return to update. -Phoenix**


	7. An Army Building

**A/N- Thank you for being patient! I'm still struggling with writer's block, but I managed to get this written. It's not my best chapter, but I felt like I really needed to get a chapter out. Review! –Phoenix**

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><p>Draco cried out in pain as Hermione knocked him on his arse…again. Glaring, he pushed himself back to his feet and got in the basic fighting stance that Hermione was teaching him.<p>

It had been a month since they returned to Hogwarts and they were keeping themselves terribly busy… just not with their schoolwork. They were busy making preparations for the upcoming war.

So far, the Heirs had managed to convince a few of their fellow classmates to join their cause. Susan and Hannah from Hufflepuff were more than willing to train to be a part of their army. Lisa Turpin, Terry Boot and Padma Patil joined them from Ravenclaw. Dean Thomas, Colin and Dennis Creevey and Seamus Finnigan joined from Gryffindor. The big surprises were Blaise Zabini and the Greengrass sisters, Daphne and Astroia from Slytherin. While their army didn't have many wizards and witches yet, they were optimistic that their numbers would soon grow.

Harry and Neville had split the numbers between their three lordships as wards so that Dumbledore couldn't touch them. The whole group moved into Potter Manor and only went to Hogwarts for classes. Blaise, Daphne and Astroia didn't feel safe returning to Slytherin because of what their housemates would do to them if they ever found out their allegiance. The new members of Unity Army actually enjoyed living at Potter Manor. There was plenty of room and they felt safer there than they did at Hogwarts.

Draco leaned back on his left leg and brought his arms up in a defensive position. In front of him, Hermione stood in her elven training clothes. She hadn't been exactly thrilled at training Draco, but he was a good student and therefore she wouldn't complain.

"You're still not putting enough weight on your back leg," she told him calmly. "It would only take a light sweep kick to take you down."

Faster than Draco's eyes could follow, Hermione ran forward and dropped to the ground to perform a sweep kick. Right as always, Hermione took Draco down with ease. Draco swore as he fell down again and this time he didn't push himself back up.

Hermione looked down at him with a small smile on her face. "You're improving," she said. "Now get up so that we can perfect that stance. You're the only human so far who's capable of the elven style. If we get more then I'll need your help to help train them."

Draco nodded and shakily stood up. "What if I became half-elf?" he asked. "Wouldn't I be even better then?"

Hermione immediately shook her head. "I was a special circumstance," she explained. "Not every human who's being trained in the elven style can become half-elf. Elear won't allow it."

"But if the true elves are a dying race, then wouldn't Elear want more of them walking the earth?" Draco continued.

Hermione shook her head, a small smile on her face. "Draco, the true elves aren't a dying race. They're hiding, there's a difference. They live separately from our world. I lived with just one village, it is hardly the only one in the world."

"Really?" Draco asked in surprise. He brushed off his pants and sighed heavily. "I just don't feel like I'm learning anything. There isn't enough time."

"Elven style is very difficult to learn," Hermione agreed. "Not that the other styles are easy. But, elven style relies on uniting magic and combat into one. Goblin style relies on either combat or magic, the two aren't combined. And centaur style relies solely on combat. One style isn't stronger than the other."

Draco furrowed his brows at that. "It sounds like the elven style is strongest," he pointed out.

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "I can see why you would think that. But, like every style, elven style has its weakness. Elves can easily be overwhelmed by the centaur's strength and the brute force of the goblin's magic and swordsmanship. While we can merge magic and combat, our magic is combatively weaker than the goblin's and our swordsmanship isn't up to par with the centaurs. We rely on our grace and speed to take out our opponents. Remember this Draco, if you're caught in close combat with a goblin or centaur then you need to gain some distance. Fight with grace and take them out before they realize it. Almost like an assassin," she added dryly.

"I guess that makes sense," Draco acknowledged. "So, if I sparred with Neville and we got in a sword lock…"

"You would get your arse kicked," Hermione chuckled. "If only we had more time," she whispered to herself. Suddenly her brown eyes lit up. "Draco, I need to go talk to Harry. I want you to stay here and meditate until I get back. Feel for the natural magic that flows from this land."

After Draco agreed, Hermione dashed towards the house. When she got there, she quickly greeted a couple elves and continued moving towards the ballroom where Harry would train his new students. Cautiously, Hermione opened the door and stuck her head in.

Seamus, Lisa, Terry, and Astroia were Harry's students in the goblin style. Dean, Blaise, Daphne, and Colin were Neville's centaur style students and Padma and Dennis worked with Luna learning a little fairy magic and helping her strategize.

Harry turned his head at the sound of the door opening and his face brightened at the mere sight of her. At Hermione's inclining head, he gave his students a couple safe workouts to do and left the room.

"Hey Love, what's up?" he asked.

"Harry, we could be called into a major battle anytime and I don't know about you, but Draco won't be ready," Hermione whispered.

Harry's face darkened a bit and he nodded. "I agree, I had seven months with Master Zux and even then I still had a lot to learn after I got my sword. What do you propose?"

Hermione's eyes shone. "Training sessions in the trunk," she said excitedly. "You, me, and Neville can alternate weekends when we take our students into the trunk and train them under the time compression."

Harry gaped at her before he smiled proudly. "I wonder why we didn't think of that sooner. That sounds perfect, but why alternate?"

"That way we wouldn't have to arrange for space," Hermione explained. "Although, I suppose that Draco and I could just piggyback with yours or Neville's training since he is my only student."

"That would be four months of training in the trunk within four weeks for mine and Neville's students," Harry remarked. "That would be perfect! But, are you afraid of us continuing aging? Our bodies still changed as if we were going through regular time."

Hermione bit her lip in thought. "I could do research to see if we can stall the aging process," she said. "I'm sure that we could get a few elves to volunteer to help run things in the trunk."

Harry's eyes shone mischievously. "If you were there each time, I'm sure that they would."

Hermione giggled and kissed Harry swiftly on the lips. "I'm going to go ask Luna if she has any ideas for this. If we prioritize on this we might be ready by Friday afternoon which is in two days."

"You're amazing," Harry whispered lovingly as he played with her braid in his fingers. "Would you like me to train Draco for the rest of the day while you do this?"

"So you could confuse him with your savage goblin style?" Hermione gasped in a mock snobbish tone. "Never! Besides, he's going to be busy for a while with what I left him to do."

With one last kiss, Hermione bid farewell to Harry and dashed towards her favorite place in the world, the Potter Library.

Hermione groaned in frustration as she put yet another book on the table. She had been researching for hours and she hadn't found anything yet.

After she explained her plan to Luna, the blonde had suggested that Hermione look into runes as it was runes that powered the trunk. But, it was still like looking for a needle in a haystack.

An hour into the research process Hermione was joined by Draco who, to her embarrassment, she had forgotten about.

"Did you feel it?" she asked cheekily.

Draco scowled at her. "I was there forever and all I got out of it was a twinge in my neck. Do you need help?"

Hermione nodded and Draco pulled up a chair and a heavy text from her pile of potentials. She gave him a quick description of what they were looking for. They researched in silence for a couple hours.

"So," Draco said quietly, breaking the silence. "I wanted to ask you something."

Hermione lifted her eyes up from her book and gave Draco a small smile. "Ask away," she said.

Draco put down the book and looked away uneasily. "I was wondering if I could see Tel'Ranaemyn sometime. You told me that I would need to make my own blade and bow to fully master the elven style. I was hoping that I could do that in a true elven village."

"You would need your own blade," Hermione agreed. "But I don't think that you'll be able to forge it yourself. I'll show you how to sing to blades and you can assist in the making of your sword. Human fingers aren't nimble enough to forge elven blades. I couldn't make my own until after I became half-elf. When you are ready for your own blade, I will forge it for you and you will assist."

Draco nodded and looked back at the book.

They searched for another hour and just when Hermione was about to call it a day, Draco let out a small gasp.

"I think that we're over thinking this," he said as he pushed his book towards her. "The stasis rune is used to keep something motionless. Usually this would be used on a small scale like keeping a vase from falling off a shelf. But, if we added the rune for a person's age to it and combined the magic, it would keep the body from progressing in age, but not magic."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "That's so simple that it's brilliant. Here I was thinking that we had to find this extremely rare and difficult rune, but in fact it's just the matter of combining two well-known and simple runes. We would need to add another rune to prevent the rune cluster from feeding too much on our own magic, but that should be relatively simple. Draco, you just solved a huge problem for us!"

Draco shrugged in embarrassment, but he was obviously pleased.

They spent another thirty minutes creating the perfect rune cluster for their plan and making sure that the rune cluster wouldn't feed off of their magical cores. When they were satisfied, they were presented with another problem.

"The only way for this to work is to have the runes carved into our skin," Hermione sighed. "Blood will make the runes even more powerful and help to prevent them from failing."

"But that will also prevent the runes from being deactivated," Draco pointed out. "If it was written with ink that is enchanted and mixed with the person's blood, then that would still work and would be able to be spelled away."

Hermione beamed at Draco. "I'd expect nothing less from my student," she laughed. "Let's go, it's almost dinner and we can tell everyone at once."

They went to dinner and once everyone was done eating, Hermione explained her plan and hers and Draco's solution to keep them from aging. Some of them were confused at first, but after Hermione patiently explained, they got excited.

"Great job," Harry praised them. He turned to Neville and asked, "Would you like to take your group this weekend?"

Neville scratched the scar on his cheek. "It would be a little short notice," he said. "Would you mind if we went next week?"

Harry shook his head. "That's fine mate." He looked at each of his students. "Be prepared to leave Potter Manor for two months on Friday afternoon. Pack tonight and tomorrow, we'll enter the trunk right when we get back from Hogwarts on Friday."

Hermione looked at Draco. "We're going to piggyback every weekend since it's just you and me."

Draco nodded in understanding and went back to his meal.

After the meal was over, Harry and Hermione went to their room where the trunk resided. They went inside and started prepping the rooms to accommodate the extra people. They transfigured the beds in Hermione's, Luna's, and Neville's old rooms so that instead of one bid bed, there were two. Harry and Hermione would share Harry's old room while everyone else shared the others.

Once the rooms were ready, Harry and Hermione left the trunk. Harry went to gather the training weapons that he and Hermione would need while Hermione left to gather most of the books they would need from the library and to ask for a few house-elves to help.

By the time they were done prepping the trunk, it was after midnight and they were exhausted. They climbed into bed and Hermione immediately snuggled into Harry's bare chest while Harry ran his fingers through her hair.

"I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you, Luna and Neville about the solution before I announced it," Hermione said softly. "I was just so excited that it didn't occur to me that you would want us to discuss it further by ourselves."

Harry smiled and kissed Hermione on the forehead. "It's alright, and I don't think that Luna or Neville minded either. We aren't going to be like Dumbledore and keep secrets from those who fight with us. I already plan on telling the students about the horcruxes. By opening up to our allies, we take less on ourselves and we have a greater chance of succeeding."

Hermione beamed at Harry. "Speaking of horcruxes, has Ragnok come across any leads? The diary, the ring, the diadem, the cup and you are taken care of. If we're right about there being seven, then that means that there are two left."

"I don't think that Voldy used anything of Gryffindor's," Harry thought out loud. "The only known relic of Gryffindor is the sword and that obviously isn't a horcrux seeing as I stabbed a basilisk with it and got the thing covered with venom."

"The sword could destroy horcruxes then," Hermione said. "It's a good thing that Ragnok knew how to eliminate horcruxes without harming the host. I would hate to stab you with a basilisk venom infused blade."

That got Harry to chuckle. "I wouldn't care for that much either. As for leads, Ragnok told us that he heard that Slytherin had another heirloom beside the ring. Apparently it's a locket. But as for where it is, he has no idea. He has his best detection team on it though. Ragnok wants us to worry about training our army and for him to worry about the horcruxes. He also told me that King Zesd wants to start sending squads of goblin warriors to start training with us."

Hermione intertwined her fingers with Harry's. "Why don't you tell Ragnok that you can take a handful of goblins with you into the trunk? I don't think that we have enough room for a whole squad."

Harry brightened at that. "Love, I feel like we really stand a good chance at winning this war. Voldy isn't going to know what hit him, and neither will Dumbledore."

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Review! -Phoenix**


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